The Beginning of the End
by flyaway111
Summary: My version of the sixth book. Contains lots of FAX and EGGY! Pretty much the summary of the actual book. Rated T for teen book. Sequel is now up!
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! This isn't my first fanfic, but it is the first one I've let somone besides myself read! Please review! Flames are definately welcome, but don't be a jerk about it.**

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Ch. 1:

Max POV:

"No."

"But why?" Gazzy complained impatiently.

"Because I said so." I told him.

"But why?" he whined.

I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. I was getting a head-ache. "Gazzy, I said no. Have you even finished packing yet?"

As of this point in time, I was in my room, packing. Apparently, according to my mom, the CSM wanted us to fly all the way to _Africa_ for some "saving the world issues." Gazzy, being the annoying little brat he was, was bugging me to go to the beach . Our safe house this time was somewhere in sunny Florida. And of course it had to be near the beach.

Right next to the _freakin' beach._

"Everyone's finished packing except you. Everyone else finished a couple of days ago. The only reason you're not ready yet is because you didn't want to go in the first place."

"He's got a point you know." Fang said, walking into my room and leaning against the door frame.

"Not helping." I muttered, looking around my room for my Combat boots.

"I wasn't trying to help." He said, smirking. Then he turned to Gazzy, "You go. I'll try to convince her for you."

Gazzy shrugged and muttered, "Good luck." He ran out.

Fang walked fully into my room and closed the door behind him, locking it. "This might be the last time they see the beach in a while, Max. Why not just let them go?" he asked me, sitting down on my bed next to my suitcase.

"It's not that I don't want them to go, because that would be fine. It's just that, one, I have to finish packing, two, I honestly don't feel like going, and three, when I say no, they need to learn to just leave it at that!"

He nodded in understanding. "I get what you're saying, but Max, you've got to realize that they're not the same kids they were a few months ago. They've been through a lot. We all have."

"You think I don't know that?!" I sighed, and walked over to him, sitting on his lap and resting my head on his shoulder. "I just wish that they wouldn't question me so much. It makes me feel like a bad leader. Like I'm not making the right decisions for them."

I could practically see him rolling his eyes. "Didn't we already have this conversation before? Why don't you give yourself a few more years before you want to become a mom?"

I let out a deep breath. "I know I'm not their mom, Fang. But they don't have someone else to be like a mom to them. So if that's the roll I have to fill, so be it."

"But it's not the roll you have to fill Max. You're fourteen. You shouldn't become a mom for another six or seven years." He said. "The flock thinks of you like their mom, Max, but you have the toughest job. You also have to be their friend, sister, and leader, all wrapped into one. And sometimes, those groups don't always agree with each other."

I closed my eyes. "Yeah, I guess."

"So, how about this? I get Iggy to take the kids to the beach, plus Ella, and the dogs, while you and me stay here and have some time to ourselves? This time, we won't be bothered by anyone. Not even your mom since she's at work."

Alone time? With Fang?

Hm…

I could deal.

"I guess," I said slowly, "good luck convincing Iggy though."

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"That was fast." I said as Fang came in my room five minutes later with what looked like a smug look on his face. He looked like he had just seen something funny.

"What's with look?" I asked him.

He glanced out the window, and I followed his gaze. The flock was flying to the beach; Iggy was holding Ella, since she couldn't fly, Angel was holding Total, and Nudge and Gazzy were both trying to hold Akila. "It didn't take too long because Iggy wanted to get out of this house; and fast too. He thinks you'll probably kill him. Which, knowing you, you probably will."

I stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"He seems to be far enough away now." Fang muttered, seemingly to himself. Then he turned to me, "I went into his room to see if he would take them to the beach and walked in on him making out with Ella."

I blinked. "You caught him… what?"

He was about to speak, when I interrupted him. "I'll kill him."

Fang smirked and shook his head. "That's why he was so eager to get out of here."

I could feel my face get red with anger, but I instantly calmed down. "I should have seen it coming." I sat on my bed with my head in my hands. "I have a headache." I muttered.

"I'm not surprised." Fang walked over to where I was and sat next to me, wrapping his arms around me, and pulling me to him. I rested my head on his chest, sighing contentedly.

I reached up to him, and right before our lips met…

_Ring, ring, ring._

I cursed, and Fang chuckled at me.

I walked out into the hallway and down into the kitchen to answer the phone, dragging Fang along with me. "Hello?" I answered it, completely annoyed.

"Max?" said my mother's voice.

"Yeah. What's up?" I asked her jumping up and sitting on the counter.

"Change of plans. Our plane is leaving earlier than we thought. I'm on my way home right now. You better have finished packing."

I rolled my eyes. "Okay, if it's not leaving at eight tomorrow, what time is it leaving?"

"10:30."

"Um, then why are you coming home now?"

"It's 10:30 _tonight._"

I glanced at the clock. It already read 7:00. Wow, time sure does fly.

"Who's psycho idea was it to change the time of the flight?!" I asked her.

"Jeb."

"I should've known." I muttered. "Does that mean he's going to fly there with us?"

"Yes, it does. He'll be flying with us, along with a few other people from the CSM, including John Abate." She said.

"Terrific." I muttered.

"Be nice, Max. I'm almost there and Jeb will be there in about an hour. We'll meet everyone else at the airport after. Nino Pierpont has supplied a private jet for us to fly there."

"So we're finally gonna meet this guy?"

"Yes. I'll be there in a few minutes, Max. We'll talk then." She hung up.

I put the phone back in the receiver and jumped off the counter.

"What was that about?" Fang asked as he followed me to the door, so I could fly to bring the flock back so they could get ready to go.

"Mom called to say that Jeb, being the moron that he is, changed our flight time at the last minute." I told him, as we quickly flew at top speed, and landed at the beach a few seconds later. "Our flight isn't at eight tomorrow morning. It's at 10:30 tonight." I yelled out to the flock, "Come on, guys! We need to go!"

They all let out moans. "Why do we have to go so soon, Max?" asked Angel.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you on the way back." I whipped out my wings and flew back in the air as they followed me one by one. When we were flying, I explained to them what Mom had told me on the phone.

Iggy snorted when I told him. "That moron."

I sent him a glare, which of course was wasted because of his blindness. "I wouldn't be talking if I were you Ig."

"Max…" Fang warned, as Iggy gave me a questioning glance. I held up my hand to stop Fang.

"What are you talking about?" asked Iggy.

"You're a moron because I can't believe you didn't think I wouldn't find out someday that you've been _making out with my sister!_"

Iggy blushed bright red, and so did Ella, who Iggy was carrying.

Fang rolled his eyes and Gazzy and Angel burst out laughing. Nudge was oddly quiet. I glanced at her and she was looking in the direction of the house, ignoring the rest of us. I flew a little closer and could have sworn I saw a tear run down her face.

I flew so I was next to her, but before I could say anything, she started to descend, along with the rest of the flock, into my mom's front yard. She went straight into the house and up to her room without a word.

Mom had already arrived at the house, and was waiting for us in the kitchen. She looked kind of nervous, and she kept glancing at me then at Fang, then at me again. She was hiding something.

"Did you guys all finish packing yet?" she asked us.

"Yeah, we're finished."

"Alright. We still have an hour before Jeb gets here, and apparently he's bringing a guest with him."

"Who's the guest?" I asked, sitting on Fang's lap. He had taken a seat at the kitchen table when we came in the house.

"Brigid Dwyer."

My eyes narrowed, and I felt Fang's arms tighten around me. "Is there a certain reason why she's coming?" I asked through clenched teeth.

"Max, it's no secret that you don't like her, well, except maybe to her, but she has done a lot for the CSM. You know that."

"Just because she's done a lot for them doesn't mean I have to be nice." I muttered, low enough so only Fang and I could hear.

"Be nice." He muttered just as softly.

"Where's Nudge? It feels weird not hearing her voice somehow adding to the conversation." Iggy asked, breaking the silence that had ensued. He was sitting on the counter, holding hands with Ella, who was standing next to him.

"I don't know." I said. "She looked a little upset when we left the beach."

"That's because she is upset." Angel said quietly. "I think you should go talk to her Max. She's really really sad."

We all looked at Angel. "Why is she upset, sweetie?"

She shook her head. Her eyes flashed toward Iggy and Ella, but I'm pretty sure I was the only one who saw it. "I can't tell you. You have to let her tell you."

I sighed, then asked Angel telepathically, "It's about Iggy and Ella, isn't it?"

_I can't tell you Max. You need to talk to her right now, though. _She sent me back.

I nodded, and pried myself from Fang's grasp. "I'm gonna go talk to her."

I walked up the stairs and down the hall until I reached the room Nudge was sharing with Ella and Angel.

I knocked on the door, and without waiting for a reply, I walked straight in. Nudge was lying on her bed facedown, crying her eyes out.

I walked over to her, gathering her in my arms. She cried into my shoulder. "Nudge, what's the matter with you?" _As if I didn't already know._

She shook her head. "Nothing."

I rolled my eyes. "Well, obviously something's wrong, otherwise you wouldn't be crying your eyes out." I waited for a few seconds, then asked, "Is it because of Iggy and Ella?"

"Kind of." She said shakily.

Okay, at least we were getting somewhere. "Is it because you like Iggy? Or is it something else?"

She pulled away from me quickly and shook her head, wiping her eyes. "No! No, of course not! It's not that! It's just that…"

I looked at her expectantly.

"Well…" she looked at me for a second, then it all came out in a rush. "Well, you have a boyfriend, you have a great relationship with Fang, he's your perfect match and your soul mate, and everything y_ou_ could ever dream of in a guy, and he loves you just as much as you love him, we always knew that you two liked each other, even though you would never admit it to each other, and now Iggy has Ella and they love each other so much and they're a great couple and they're pretty much perfect for each other, and now I feel bad because I don't have someone like that, someone I could talk to and treat me like Fang treats you or Iggy treats Ella, and now I feel even worse for saying that 'cuz I should be happy for you guys and –"

"Nudge?" I interrupted her, knowing where she was going with this.

"Yeah."

I paused for a few seconds, and had a random thought. Me, Maximum Ride, giving relationship advice… Who would've guessed? "Nudge, I get what you're saying. I really do. But first of all, you're only eleven, you honestly don't need a boyfriend right now. Second, think about it. Sooner or later we're gonna have to leave again, and think of how upset Iggy and Ella are going to be, because they're probably going to have to split up. Third, having a boyfriend isn't really all it's cracked up to be." Okay, on the first few sentences I was doing pretty good, but I was totally bluffing on that last sentence.

She snorted; obviously, I didn't fool her. "As if you don't love having Fang as your boyfriend. Right, Max. You just keep on telling yourself that."

I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Nudge, that's not the point. The point is," I took a deep breath, trying to figure out the right words to say, "Sure, having a boyfriend is great and all, but, they have a lot of issues, like –"

The door slammed open and closed downstairs, and I immediately heard the last person I wanted to hear at a time like this, "Fang! How good to see you!" said the voice of Brigid Dwyer, or as I like to call her, Dr. Wonderful/Amazing/Stupendous. I rolled my eyes.

"Like what Max?" Nudge asked, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Like…" I thought about it for a second. "Like jealousy, for example."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean –"

"Oh, wait! You mean how you feel when Brigid makes googoo eyes at Fang?"

I slapped my hand to my forehead. "Kind of."

"It's okay, Max. I would be upset if that happened to me too."

I pinched the bridge of my nose, and just gave in. "He's fourteen! And she's twenty-one! It's not right, I tell you, not right!" I whisper/yelled, standing up and walking toward the door.

"Max?"

I turned back to her, my hand on the doorknob. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

I smiled at her. "No problem."

I walked out and into the kitchen where, of course, I was ambushed by none other than an over-emotional Dr. Amazing.

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**There we go! Hope you liked it! R&R. Oh, yeah, and if anyone gives me any awesome ideas for future chapters, I will be sure to mention you and/or one of your stories in one of my author's notes!**


	2. Chapter 2

Ch. 2

Max POV:

"Oh my goodness, Max! It's so good to see you again!" Said Brigid, as she flew her arms around me, trying to give me a hug.

_I wish I could say the same… Strike that, no I don't. _"You too, Brigid." I said as I patted her on the back, trying to be civil.

Angel looked at me, obviously reading my thoughts, and giggled. I sent her a look that said "if you tell anyone that's what I was thinking, I swear to God…"

_Don't worry Max, I won't tell anyone, but I did tell Fang what you thought._

I glanced over at him, and saw he was smirking at me. I rolled my eyes at him. And his smirk got even wider.

I detached myself from Brigid and went back to my seat on Fang's lap. It was probably just me, but I could've sworn I saw a flash in her eyes, as he wrapped his arms around me.

"Max." Jeb greeted me with a nod. He's finally learned not to even try to hug me.

"Jeb." I returned the greeting.

"I feel like I haven't seen any of you in so long!" Brigid squealed, looking at all of us.

_You saw us three weeks ago. No need to get overdramatic._

Angel giggled again. I sent her telepathically, _Get out of my head Angel._

_Sorry, Max. _

I didn't feel her leave. _Angel?_

_Sorry, Max. I told Fang what you thought again and he thought it was funny. Oh, and he says to tell you to be nice or there won't be a repeat of last night. What happened last night?_

I felt the blood rush to my cheeks immediately. I quickly put up my mental guard, and Angel gave me a questioning glance, wondering about my blush and about why I blocked her.

Well, I didn't want the poor girl to get the mental image of Fang and I having a major make-out session last night now did I?

Exactly.

"Alright," said my mom, clapping her hands to get all of our attention, "Let's all get our stuff and head out. We don't want to be late."

Which brings us to me, laying down on a sofa with my head in Fang's lap with a blanket covering me, trying to get some sleep considering it was around ten o' clock at night. We were waiting for the plane to take off, since we were an half an hour early, and I was soooo bored.

Let me just tell you, the car ride here was not fun. It was the flock, two dogs, mom, and Brigid all cramped up in moms mini-van. And Fang and Iggy being so tall just added onto our problems. Where was Jeb? He was in his own car, which was carrying most of our luggage. _Most._ Meaning, not all.

So here was how the seating went:

Mom drove and Brigid took the passenger seat (she didn't seem too happy about it, but that's her problem, not mine.) The next row contained me, Fang, Angel, Iggy, and Ella. We got so cramped, considering Iggy and Fang are so tall, that Ella and I ended up sitting on Fang and Iggy's laps. The next row consisted of Nudge, Gazzy, and the two dogs. That may not seem so bad, but put a chatterbox, a gas bomb, an 80-pound Alaskan Malamute, a small talking Scottie with an attitude and a big ego, and a bunch of luggage, all cramped into one small row, you're bound to get trouble.

I pushed that horrible car ride out of my head and focused on the present. I glanced around the plane, checking on my flock. Fang and I had taken a seat in the very back corner, so the two of us could have a little privacy; he had his eyes closed and was reclining on the sofa (if you pulled out the lever on the side of the sofa, a footrest came out.) and listening to the i-pod my mom had given him. Apparently, Ella and Iggy had the same idea as we did, because they took a seat on the sofa in the exact opposite corner, whispering softly to each other.

Next to Fang and I were Gazzy, Angel and Nudge. They were playing some kind of card game. Next to Iggy ad Ella were Brigid, John Abate, who was a good friend of my mom's, Jeb, and my mom. The four of them were leaning close to each other, whispering about something. I had a feeling that it was about Fang and I. One, because I'm good at sensing that kind of stuff, and two, they all kept throwing glances at the two of us. Kind of weird. In the other part of the plane were a few of the other people from the CSM doing God knows what. I could have really cared less.

I nudged Fang and he looked down at me, taking his headphones out of his ears. "What?"

I sat up and rested my head against his chest. "They're talking about us." I muttered.

He leaned down and buried his face in my hair. "Who is?" he asked quietly.

"Mom, Jeb, John, and Brigid."

He glanced up at them automatically, but casually. "Why do you say that?"

I looked up at him. "Every five minutes they turn and glance at the two of us. And they have these really worried looks on their faces. Except Brigid. She looked kind of smug, with a kind of "evil" glint in her eye. It's kind of freaking me out."

He stared at me. "I think you're being a bit paranoid, Max."

I snorted quietly. "Paranoid, right? And how many times has my paranoia saved our butts?"

He sighed, and wiped some hair out of my face. "Max, I really think you're overreacting."

"I'm not overreacting!" I glanced back at the group of four, and saw they were looking at us again. I nudged Fang and nodded toward them. He glanced over and saw them staring at us, then the four of them quickly turned back to their conversation.

"Okay, so maybe you're right."

"Told you. What do you think their saying about us?"

"Beats me. Could be anything." He said, stretching. "But, we'll worry about that when the time comes. Go back to sleep. You look tired."

I rested my head on his chest again and his arms slid around me. "Fine."

The rest of the ride was pretty much uneventful, except that I had to confiscate a bomb from Gazzy and the four adults kept looking at us, everything was pretty much smooth sailing.

We landed in the airport around 11:00 the next morning for our time. For Africa's time, it was about 9:00 at night. Suffice to say it, I was happy to be out of that cramped plane. If you call pushing everyone out of my way and running out the door so fast not realizing it was the emergency door, so when I opened it the blow up slide thingy came out, happy. Everyone smirked when they saw how eager I was to get off of the plane. Well, they can get over it.

"So, what now?" I asked my mom when all of us had gotten off of the plane.

"Well," said Jeb, "Mr. Pierpont said that he would be sending two limo's for us."

"Since when do we use limos?" Fang muttered so only I could hear.

I smirked. "Okay, and those limos would be where?"

"There are our drivers, right there." Jeb said pointing to two men in black suits holding signs that said CSM.

We walked over to them and Jeb said something to them in a language I couldn't understand. The two men nodded and motioned for us to follow them. The next thing I knew, we were pulling up to a giant _mansion_ in two super-long stretch limos.

I grew up in a dog crate so you can just imagine how weird it felt riding in a giant stretch limo and pulling up to the biggest house we've ever seen.

We knocked on the door and this fancy guy in a butler suit opened it for us. He directed us through this gigantic hall to another huge door that apparently led to a giant dining hall. The flock was looking around with wide eyes and open mouths, all of them staring in shock at their surroundings.

The butler guy motioned for us to sit down and the people from the CSM followed his directions, by sitting at this long table in the middle of the hall. The flock and I, of course, hating to obey adults, stayed standing.

"Max, come sit down." My mom said, motioning to an empty seat.

"We'll pass."

She sighed, but turned back to a conversation she was having with John.

"What do you think we're here for?" Gazzy asked, so that just the flock could hear.

"I don't know, Gaz. But they must have made us come here for a reason." I told him. He looked tired. We all did actually. Sleeping on a plane isn't exactly the most comfortable thing on the planet.

"Doesn't it suppose to have something to do with your saving the world mission?" Iggy asked.

"That's what they told me." I said.

The door opened on the far end of the hall, and a tall skinny man in an expensive looking suit walked in. He walked up to the adults and they all stood and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet all of you." That's when he walked up to us. "So this must be the incredible Maximum Ride, am I correct? And her flock?"

"Maybe, and you are…?" I said.

He held out his hand. "Nino Pierpont."

I stared at his hand until he pulled it back awkwardly. "Yes, well. Are you guys hungry? I heard about how many calories you guys need."

I looked at my flock and they all nodded, except Fang, who shrugged. I rolled my eyes. "Sure, why not."

He nodded, and walked away from us, heading to the head of the table. He clapped twice, and immediately a man in a chef's outfit ran through the door, closely followed by the same man who brought us to the hall. Mr. Pierpont spoke to them quietly and they both nodded and bowed to him like he was some kind of king or something. To them, he probably was.

The chef ran out of the room while the butler told the adults and Ella, "If you will all please follow me, I will bring you to the other dining hall for dinner."

My mom and Ella glanced up at us worriedly, but stood and followed the butler with the rest of the adults and the two dogs. "Please sit down." Nino Pierpont told us as we all sat. "The food will be here –"

"What do you want Nino, I was busy." A teenage guy, looking about my age, had walked into the room, and he had an aggravated look on his face. He had shaggy blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. He was tall, about the same height as Fang, and looked just as strong as him too. He was wearing jeans and an old blue and green t-shirt with black converse. He was so cute.

_No! Stop it Max! _I told myself. _You have a boyfriend now!_

Angel giggled.

_Stop reading my thoughts Angel! That's private! And don't you dare tell Fang what I said!_

_I won't Max, I promise._ She sent me back mentally.

"Ah, yes, Dylan." Said Nino, standing up and gesturing the guy forward.

The boy, Dylan, didn't move.

Hm… Disrespecting authority and cockiness…

I was starting to like this kid.

"Is there something you needed?" Dylan asked. "I was kind of in the middle of something."

"This won't take long. Where are your friends?" he asked.

"Doing what they normally do. Rachel and Samantha are trying to blow up something, Melissa's on her computer, Cody's playing with his toy cars, and Kevin's reading some magazine. Is that all?"

"Go get them. I want to introduce you all to a few people."

I stood up. "Can we get on with this? I don't know about you, but I have better things I can be doing than watching you two having a really boring conversation." I turned to Dylan. "No offense."

"None taken." He said.

Nino waved at me to sit down again. "All will be explained in due time, Miss Ride."

I sat down and folded my arms. "That's what they always say."

"Dylan, go get your friends. You can all join us for dinner." Nino said, as Dylan left the room with a roll of his eyes.

"It's past ten o' clock." Nudge whispered. "Who eats dinner after ten o'clock?"

"Apparently these people do." Whispered Gazzy, and Iggy snorted.

"I'm so glad all of you could come. I've waited a long time to meet all of you." Nino said, looking us over like we were a zoo exhibit.

"I wish we could say the same." I said and the rest of the flock snickered.

He continued talking, but I tuned him out. _Angel?_ I asked her telepathically.

_Yeah, Max?_

_Are you picking anything up from that Dylan guy or from the crack-job millionaire?_

_No… Not really… That kid Dylan is just really annoyed at the millionaire for bringing him and his friends here. I can't get anything from Mr. Pierpont though. His mind is just blank, like Jeb's._

_Alright, sweetie. Keep trying._

"Alright, we're here. What do you want?" Dylan asked, walking into the room again with five other kids following closely behind him.

"Please sit." Nino gestured for them to sit down at the table, and they all obliged after a nod from Dylan.

In front of Angel was a brown haired blue eyed boy who looked to be around the age of six or seven. He had an action figure of some kind in his hand and was playing with it absently. In front of Nudge was a boy about twelve years old, maybe eleven. His skin color was very dark, almost black, and his hair was cut short. He looked anxious, as his chocolate brown eyes looked over all of the people in the room.

In front of me, was Dylan. He didn't look too happy. Whatever he was doing must have been important, or he just didn't want to be disturbed. Fang sat with a girl in front of him that looked about fourteen. She had dark hair, almost black, but had crystal clear blue eyes. Her face was emotionless, and she kind of reminded me of a female version of Fang. Kinda weird. In front of Gazzy was a girl that looked to be about eight or nine. She had sparkling brown eyes and dirty blonde hair, and was studying us all curiously. Iggy sat in front of a girl who looked about the same age as Dylan and the girl with the black hair. She had sparkling green eyes and a reddish-brown colored hair.

I looked over all of these kids, and did a double take. They were like my flock, just all different genders. Again. Kinda weird.

"You kids are going to be working together in your little mission, so I will leave it to all of you to make introductions." Nino said, sitting back in his chair.

_Um… okay?_

We all stared at each other, well, more like glared at each other, not sure of what to say, when two young voices ripped through the silence.

"You can read minds too?!" Everyone glanced to over where Angel and the boy sitting in front of her were. They were both staring at each other, mouths wide open.

"What?" half of us asked them at the same time.

Angel stood up and ran over to me, and the little boy stood and ran over to Dylan. I didn't catch their conversation, because Angel was jumping up and down squealing. "He can read minds like I can Max! And he can control them too!"

I glanced over at Dylan the same time he glanced over at me. "I think we all have a little explaining to do." I said.

"My thoughts exactly." He replied.

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**Sorry for the slight cliffy... If the chapters aren't long enough, tell me, and I'll make them longer. R&R!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's chapter three! Sorry that its shorter than the last two. Since it's so short, I might post chapter four up later today. Just wanna give a big thanks to NateTheGreat1001, who was my first ever reviewer.  
And, If anyone has _any_ ideas for future chapters, please feel free to let me know. I might use your idea, and give a shout-out to you or one of your stories in my author's notes! **

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Ch. 3:

Max POV:

_(Last Chapter:)_

_I glanced over at Dylan the same time he glanced over at me. "I think we all have a little explaining to do." I said._

_"My thoughts exactly." he replied._

I'm not going to bore you with the long boring details, so here's the short version. They were raised in The School like _us. _Called themselves a flock, like _us. _And guess what. They had _wings_ like, wait for it.... _us!_

Again with the weirdness.

As for names, the girl in front of Gazzy was Rachel, and she could mimic any object. A truck horn, a doorbell, a bird, a nuclear missile, etc. The girl in front of Fang was Melissa, who could pretty much change into any type of animal she wanted at will. The girl in front of Iggy was Samantha, and she was mute. Kind of ironic if you ask me.

In front of Angel was Cody, and he could read/control minds, and talk to animals. In front of Nudge was Kevin, and he could make wooden objects come to him, and was also great with computers, like Nudge. Dylan had the exactt same power as me. To be able to fly at the speed of light.

If any of this sounds familiar to you at all, feel free to say something.

As of now however, after that awkwardly lovely dinner, I was in Fang's room at the mansion, venting my heart out. Mr. Pierpont had taken the liberty and given everyone new clothes, rooms with their names on the doord, and made them fit to our specific personalities. Even the two _dogs_ had a room to themselves. Everyone else's rooms were perfect.

Except mine of course.

I had gone straight to the bathroom with the clothes from my bag that I had brought, and headed to take a shower. I didn't pay attention to the actual room and didnt notice the color of _everything_ until I came out. I screamed as soon as I saw he color of the walls and furniture, and the flock, my mom and Ella, and the dogs automatically came running.

"It's pink!" I yelled out in frustration, and they all burst out laughing at my expression. Even Fang.

Pink. Was. _Everywhere!_

I mean, who did this moron think I was?! Even most of the clothes were pink! There were a few pairs of blue jeans, some t-shirts, and some hoodies, but that was it! There were skirts, dresses, heels, long lacy pajamas... Pretty much everything I don't use.

I shuddered just thinking about it.

"I just don't get it Fang!" I said pacing back and forth in front of his bed. I was on the verge of wearing a hole in the floor from my pacing. Fang was lying on his bed, updating his blog. "We come here to freaking _Africa _with no idea why were being "summoned" here, and then this rich idiot just gives us this giant dinner and introduces us to this other flock who is very similar to us! Something's not right! Something they're not telling us!"

Fang sighed, he had been doing that a lot in this conversation. "Max, the first thing you need to do is calm yourself down. Then you need to go to your room and get some sleep. It's past midnight."

"I'm not tired! I'm too anxious and aggravated to be tired. And besides, I definately don't know how I'm supposed to sleep in that room! I mean, come on! Pink?! Seriously?! Even the _dogs, _Fang, the _dogs, _have a better room than I do! Who does that guy think I am?! Barbie?!"

Fang closed his laptop and set in on the floor. He folded his arms across his chest and stared at me. "It's just a color, Max. Chill."

I snorted. "Don't tell me to chill! I bet you wouldn't be saying that if that was your room! You know, if it was just a little bit of pink, I would be fine. But it's everywhere Fang. I'm afraid Malibu Barbie is going to come attack me in my sleep."

He rolled his eyes, but the side of his lip twitched up in a smile. He was about to comment, but I stopped him, continuing my rant.

"And you know what else? Most of the clothes that he gave me were pink! I may have had two pairs of jeans, a few dark colored t-shirts, one hoodie, a pair of converse, and that's it! Everything else is either very fancy dresses or skirts with fancy blouses and high heels, or tight revealing shirts and skimpy shorts, and lacy bras and thongs! Really?! Since when do I wear thongs?!" I whisper/yelled the last part so anyone happening to pass the door at that time wouldn't hear me.

Fang raised an eyebrow at me, and he suddenly burst out laughing louder than I've ever heard him before.

I narrowed my eyes at him, and walked over and smacked him upside the head. "It's not funny." I hissed.

He calmed down after a few seconds. "Sorry, Max." He was still smirking.

"No you're not." I turned around and headed to the door, pulling it open.

A pale hand reached out and shut the door before I could step out, and the same hand grabbed my arm, pulled me around and pressed me up against the door.

"I'm sorry." He said, pressing himself against me, and stroking the side of my face.

I moved my face so our foreheads were touching. "Oh, yeah? Prove it."

He closed the distance and I felt that familiar jolt go through me as he kissed me, trapping me up against the door. We both stumbled backwards until he was sitting on the bed, holding my waist. I pressed him backwards until he fell onto the bed lying on his back. He flipped the two of us over so he was lying on top of me. I hitched my legs on the side of his waist. I stopped kissing him long enough to pull off his shirt and throw it to the floor, then I tangled my hands in his hair and pulled him back to me.

_Max?_

_Kinda busy Angel. Can this wait?_

_I just wanteed to tell you that Brigid is on her way up there, and is about to walk in on you and Fang._

_Are you sure?_

_Yeah, I'm sure._

_Thanks sweetie, you can get out of my head now._

That sentence could not have gotten any weirder.

I pulled away from Fang. "Did you lock the door?"

"Um, no, should I have?"

"Angel says that Brigid is on her way up here and -"

Which, of course, was when the door swung open.

"Hey, Fang, I was wondering -" She gasped when she saw us, and Fang and I jumped apart as fast as we could. I can pretty much imagine the first thing she thought of when she saw Fang and I in the middle of Fang's bed, making out, him on top of me, when my legs were around his waist when he didn't have a shirt on. I mea, I know the first thing _I _would have automatically thought of.

"It's fine." I told Brigid as I told Brigid as I threw Fang his shirt. He needed to put one on. Brigid was watching him a little too closely for my liking. What was she doing up past midnight anyway. According to Angel, after dinner that night, Brigid was so "tired" she almost asked Fang to "carry" her to her room.

I'm sorry, but she's twenty-one. He's fourteen. That can't be legal.

"Is there something you needed?" Fang asked her, not bothering to hide his anger. He teeth were clenched and he glared at her. If looks could kill...

"Um.... well... It could wait" She said.

"It's past midnight. You couldn't have waited until tomorrow morning?"

"I - I just -" she stuttered.

"It's alright Brigid." I told her. See, I could be the better person. I put my hand on Fang's arm and muttered to him, "Fang, calm down." I didn't like Brigid, but I kind of felt sorry for her. Being on the receiving side of Fang's anger is definately not a place you want to be.

"I'll just go. I'm so sorry." She said, running out of the door and slamming it shut behind her.

"She'll never learn." I said. "I think you have a stalker Fang."

"It's not funny, Max. You'd think she'd take a hint." he said, slipping into his bed. He patted the spot next to him, and I shook my head.

"No thanks." I told him, opening his door, and getting ready to head to my room. "I'll take my chances with the Killer Malibu Barbie."

* * *

**Okay! Chapter three! R&R**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks for all of the awesome reviews! Some of the "constructive criticism" or whatever really helped me out, so thanks to all of you! I know this chapter is short so I will be putting on chapter 5. Because school starts up again tomorrow, I might not be updating as much as I have been, but I promise to update as soon as I can. R&R**

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Chapter 4

Max POV:

"I don't really get what you want us to do." I told Nino the next day at around lunch-time, when we were all squeezed into a large "family room" type place with a bunch of sofa's and chairs with the other flock and the CSM.

Nino stared at me for a few seconds, then he looked at Dylan, who was talking quietly to Melissa. Nino sighed and stood up. He looked at the two flocks, and the people from the CSM. "If you all don't mind, I would like to talk to Max and Dylan alone."

They all seemed reluctant to leave, and they all kept glancing back at us, but soon enough, only three of us were left in the room.

"So what is it? What did you need to tell us?" Dylan asked.

"Dylan, you have been asking me what your purpose was in this world. I have told you many reasons, but not all of them were true."

"Shocker." Dylan muttered.

"Maximum, you have been been wondering about why you have been brought here. I think that it is time I told you." he stopped talking.

"Yeah, I get that. But can we get on with this?" I asked.

"Max, as you know, there are a lot of cities in Africa that are very poor. One of those cities in particular, being the city of Uganda. There is a war that is completely ruining the city. It is killing and hurting people. Male children are being taken to be ued as soldiers, and the women children are being used as sex slaves."

I flinched.

"The people are being destroyed, as is the city. The people are loosing hope, and the will to live. Your job, Maximum, is to give them hope again. Your job is to help them however you can. Bring food, water, and comfort. Build houses, and schools, and try to get people to donate money to help build and buy things these people need. This will be one of your first steps in saving the world."

"But what does this have to do with me?" asked Dylan.

"Dylan, there were a lot of reasons you were created, but one reason stands above all the rest." Nino said.

"And that reason would be."

Nino stood and walked over to where the two of us were. He stood in front of us, and we leaned forward expectantly, waiting for him to answer.

"You were created to help with the scientific study of having avian DNA inserted into human DNA. You were also created to help Max with her quest to save the world, and if she fails, you are designed to be the one that takes her place. But the major reason you were created was to be Max's perfect other half." Nino smiled, as if he had just told us we had won a billion dollar lottery.

And, you know, since this is my life, that was when someone screamed.

* * *

I didn't think twice, I just did what came naturally. I jumped up and punched Nino Pierpont right in the face, and heard his nose break. He fell to the floor. I was fed up with all of this. My perfect other half? No way.

I ran to where I heard the scream, and ended up where the flock was. They all had solemn looks on their faces, and Angel ran up to me and hugged me, bawling. I looked around at the flock. They didnt seem to be hurt. Could they have heard what was being said?

I counted the flock members, then stopped, and counted again.

Where was Fang?

Still holding Angel, who was crying relentlessly into my shoulder, I turned to Iggy. "What happed Ig? Where's Fang?"

Angel just cried harder, and Nudge, my mom, and Ella, who had her head on Iggy's shoulder, started to cry too. Gazzy and Iggy also seemed on the verge of crying.

"Someone tell me what happened!" I yelled out to them.

"Angel got a new power." Iggy said quietly.

"Okay, what is it?" I said, trying to figure out what was going on.

"She can see the future." Iggy said.

"Then why's everyone so..." My voice trailed off. I pulled Angel away from me and made her look at me. "Angel, what did you see?"

She shook her head, still crying. I made her look up at me again. "Tell me what you saw, Angel."

"She saw Fang, Max." my mom said gently.

My heart clenched. "What about Fang?"

Still sobbing, Angel looked up at me. "Max, I'm so sorry."

"Will someone please tell me what's going on!" I said, on the verge of a panic attack.

There seemed to be complete silence for a split second, and Angel's voice suddenly split throught the silence. "Fang will be the first to die."

* * *

There were a lot of thoughts rushing through my head all at once, and I couldn't figure out any one of them. The only coherent word I could make was, "huh?"

Angel threw her arms around me, sobbing uncontrollably. Gazzy had tears leaking out of his eyes, and he came and joined our hug, soon followed by Nudge, Ella and Iggy, my mom, and Total.

I just stood there, in the midst of the giant group hug. It's like I wasn't really there. My thoughts were definately. I just knew one thing. I needed to find Fang.

Soon.

Preferably, _before_ he does something stupid.

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**Ooohhhh, where's Fang? Is Dylan really Max's perfect other half? And what about Angel's new power?... R&R**


	5. Chapter 5

**Here's the next Chapter. It's much longer than chapters 3 and 4. I hope everyone likes it. Please Review! :D**

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Ch. 5

Max POV:

I pulled myself away from the others. "So, I'm guessing Fang knows."

They all nodded.

"When he found out about Angel's vision, he ran out the door. Not sure where he went though. Want me to go help you find him?" Iggy asked, turning in the direction of my voice.

"No, that's okay. I need to talk to him alone, anyway. But, you're in charge until I get back, Ig. Don't blow anything up."

He nodded and I turned to leave.

"Max?"

I turned around and faced my mom, one hand on the door, and my wings half out. "What?"

"What did Mr. Pierpont want?"

I felt my face turn blood red, and I glanced at Dylan, who had just walked in with his flock. I put my mental guards up so Angel would stay out of my head. My flock glanced at me questioningly, but I shook my head. "It's nothing. We'll talk about it later."

"That bad, huh?" she asked.

"Well, let's just say, you might want to go make sure he's okay. I might have broken his nose." I said. Without waiting for her to answer, I threw open the door and flew out.

* * *

I must've looked for at least two hours, then I flew back to the house, got Iggy, and we flew around again looking for him for another four hours, for a whopping total of six hours. At ten o' clock, Iggy had to do everything but literally drag me back to the house, and even then, I stayed on the roof of the house for another hour, waiting for him. At around 11:30, I gave up.

I walked to my room, and opened the door, planning on just falling on my bed to get some sleep. I completely stopped and automatically crouched down in a fighting stance, facing the dark figure in the corner, sitting on a rocking chair.

I squinted into the darkness. "F-Fang?"

"Ummm... no." The figure stood up.

"Dylan?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I stood up, and reached behind me to flip the light switch. I blinked a few times due to the sudden light and sure enough, Dylan was there standing in front of me with his hands in his pockets.

"I'm sorry if this is a bad time, but I needed to talk to you." he said.

I nodded. "Yeah, sure. Why not?"

"Okay, um, about what Nino said to us today. I want you to know that I had nothing to do with that."

"I know, and I hope you know I had nothing to do with that either." I told him.

"I know, and so far, I haven't told anyone about what he said, so do you think we should keep it quiet?"

"Yeah, I think we should. I mean, I don't think my boyfriend would like it if he figured out that you were my supposed perfect match." I said

"Yeah, and I don't think my girlfriend would like it if she found out that you were my perfect match." he said.

"It's Melissa?" I asked.

"Yeah." He said, running a hand through his hair. "I guess it's kind of like that thing you have with Fang. We've been best friends ever since we were at The School, and it just, happened."

I laughed softly. "Yeah. So, it's a deal? We'll keep it quiet?"

"Definately."

There was a half awkward/half comfortable silence between the two of us.

"I'm sorry about him. Fang I mean. Your flock told my flock about, what's her name, Angel's vision..." he said.

"We've gotten through worse, we'll get through this." I said quietly.

"I'm sure you will. So no luck in finding him?" he asked.

I sighed. "No." I turned toward the door. "If we're going to talk, let's head down to the kitchen. I'm starving."

* * *

The first words out of Dylan's mouth when we got to the kitchen were, "I heard about your cooking skills, I'll make you something if you want." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes. "Haha. You're so funny. I think I'm perfectly capable of making a sandwhich. You want one?"

"Sure." he said, shrugging.

I made the sandwhiches and we talked and ate.

"So how bad was his nose after I hit it?" I asked.

"Pretty bad, but your mom fixed him up, and they were both pretty mad afterwards."

I shrugged. "I'm not surprised. I tend to have that affect on people."

We were both silent for a while. "You want something to drink?" he asked me. "I don't know why, but I'm craving some hot chocolate."

I raised an eyebrow. "Hot chocolate sounds great."

"It's my favorite." he said, boiling some water on the stove.

"Yeah, mine too." I muttered.

He poured the water in cups and added the hot chocolate mix. He handed it to me with a spoon.

I stirred it thoughtfully. "Do you think that they made us all so much alike for a reason? I mean, not just us two, but all of us?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, besides us, take Fang and Melissa for example. Just picture them in your mind and think of how much alike they are. Or think of Samantha and Iggy. They are both so much alike. They both even have a disability. One's blind and one's mute. That can't have been a coincidence."

I waved my hand around in a circle to emphasize my point.

"Yeah, I get what you mean - Ouch!"

I jumped up. When I had put my hand down, I hit Dylans hot chocolate which so happened to be right next to him, so when it spilt over, the hot chocolate spilt all over him. And he tried to stand up too fast, so he just ended up falling backwards off of his chair.

I helped him up. "Oh, my God, Dyan. I'm so sorry."

"It's alright." He said, reaching up and touching the back of his head where he hit it. He pulled his hand back and it had blood on it. He cursed.

"Max, can you get the first aid kit from under the sink." he asked.

"Sure." I went and got the first aid kit. "Sit." I ordered. "You might want to take off that shirt before it burns you anymore. That can't be too comfortable with all the hot chocolate on it."

"It's not." He took off his shirt and threw it onto the table, and I pulled his head toward me to look where he was bleeding.

"It's not that bad. It's already stopped bleeding. But your going to have a bruise there for a while." I told him, pressing a towel to his head to wipe off some of the excess blood. "I'm really sorry about that." I said quietly.

"It's no problem." he said, looking up at me. "I've had worse."

We both stared at each other for a second, then we both started to lean in...

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**Oooohhh, will Max kiss Dylan? Sorry for the Mylan, and the cliffie. But, we all know I had to put a little of both in here somewhere. I'm in the middle of writing chapter 6, so I'll try to update ASAP. R&R**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hi, everyone! Don't worry, I have not abandoned this story. It's just that school has been, well, school, and I already have like four projects I have to do. But since I haven't been updating lot this week, I will post up this chapter, PLUS, chapter's seven and eight, cuz I'm just awesome like that.******

A friend of mine was recently reading my story and pointed out that I forgot to do something very important. A disclaimer. So, here it is...  
Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride or anything of the characters from the books, but I do own Dylan's flock.

One more thing before we start. I want to give a shout out to ferretomo for his idea, I kinda sorta used it in my story. So, thanks! Thanks for all the comments I've been getting from everyone! R&R!

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Ch. 6

Max POV:

_(Previously :)_

_It's not that bad. It's already stopped bleeding. But you're going to have a bruise there for a while." I told him, pressing a towel to his head to wipe off some of the excess blood. "I'm really sorry about that." I said quietly._

_"It's no problem." he said, looking up at me. "I've had worse."_

_We both stared at each other for a second, then we both started to lean in..._

My hands went around Dylan's neck and into his hair as we both leaned in, and his arms slid around my waist pulling me to him.

_**Kiss him. **_The Voice said.

It always shows up at the _worst_ possible time.

I jumped away from Dylan faster than lighting, and he moved away from me just as fast.

"I'm sorry." he muttered.

"Me too." _Me and my stupid bird-kid hormones._

_**You should have kissed him Max. **_

_What's it to you, Voice? You never cease to amaze me. First, you want me to get together with Fang, now you're telling me to kiss this other guy while I'm dating Fang? I'm so confused._

Predictably, the Voice didn't say anything.

"Max?" Dylan asked. We still hadn't moved from our positions of being pressed against opposite walls.

I looked up at him. "What?"

"I'm guessing you have a Voice in your head. Am I right?" he asked.

My eyes widened. "How did you know that?"

"My Voice told me." he said.

I stared at him. "You... you have a Voice too?"

He nodded. "That's the reason I moved away."

"Me too." We both stared at each other awkwardly. "So, this never happened?"

"Exactly."

I walked out of the kitchen casually, like, _Me? Do something as stupid as almost kiss another guy when my boyfriend is missing? Nah...._ I walked up the stairs and into my room, falling face-first on the bed. I groaned. I was such an idiot.

There was a knock at the door.

"Go away!" I yelled out, my voice muffled by the pillow.

I heard the door open. Okay....

I felt a hand wiping some hair from the back of my neck, and I immediately tensed up. "Jeez, Max, calm down."

My eyes flew open and I whipped my head around. "Fang?"

He gave me a half smile, and from the moonlight on the windows, his pale skin seemed almost ghostly. "Hey, Max."

I threw my arms around his neck, and crushed him into a hug. Then I pulled back and smacked him across the face. Hard. "Where the hell have you been Fang?! I looked for you for over six hours! Where were you?!"

"I guess I deserved that." he said, rubbing his sore cheek. "I've just been out flying. I needed some time to think after Angel told me about her vision."

"Fang, you could've gotten yourself killed! You could've gotten attacked by M-Geeks or something!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I just..."

I sighed. "Even though I think you're a giant moron, I understand. I mean, I think I would feel pretty stressed out if I just found out that..." my voice trailed off.

"That you were going to die?" he asked.

"Fang, I -"

He shook his head. "It's fine, Max."

"No, it's not. You're not going to die, Fang."

"Max..."

"No!" I yelled. "Don't you "Max" me! You are not going to die Fang!"

"Max, just listen -"

"No, you listen! The day you die is the day we all die! The day I die! You are not going to die anytime soon Fang!" I pushed him, and his arms went around me, trying to calm me down. I punched him as hard as I could, wanting him to let me go. "Let go!" I yelled. "Let me go!" I punched him and pushed him again and again, but he still wouldn't let me go. Since when was he stronger than me?

I pushed him again and he hit the wall, still hanging onto me. He slid down until we were both on the floor. Every time I hit him I felt myself getting weaker and weaker, until I just gave up, and started crying. Me! Crying! Since when do I, Maximum Ride, cry?!

"Shh, Max. Everything's going to be fine." Fang said.

"No, it's not." I whispered. "You can't die Fang."

"I... I won't die, Max. I'm right here." he said.

_**This is why I wanted you to kiss Dylan Max. Fang is in grave danger.**_

_What am I supposed to do?_

I waited, not expecting an answer. _**There isn't anything you can do Max. All you can do is come to terms with the fact that Fang will die.**_

_I can't do that. Angel's vision is wrong. Fang can't die._

_**You're being selfish Max. And you know that Angel is almost never wrong.**_

_Yeah, almost. So there's still hope._

I might have imagined it, but I could have sworn I heard the voice sigh. _**You have bigger things to worry about Max. The apocalypse is coming, and you are the only one who can stop it.**_

Which pretty much translated into: _**Who cares about Fang, the guy you love, you have bigger issues. You will either save the world or let it be destroyed, so no pressure!**_

This was turning out to be the worst trip _ever_.

I woke up the next morning in my bed feeling very, _very _disoriented. After my little sob-fest last night, I must have fallen asleep, and Fang, who was nowhere to be seen, had no doubt put me in my bed.

Everything that had happened last night came back to me in a quick blur. I groaned and fell backwards onto my bed.

I dragged myself out of bed and headed down to the kitchen, where I could smell eggs, bacon, and pancakes cooking. The only one in the kitchen was Iggy. "Hey, Ig."

"Hey, Max." he said.

"Where's everyone else?" I asked.

"Probably still sleeping."

"And you're not because....?"

"If you must know, I wasn't really tired." he said cockily.

"Yeah, I bet. Making out with Ella probably kept you up all night, am I right?" I asked.

His cheeks took on a slight pink tone. "Maybe, maybe not. It's none of your business anyway."

"The hell it's not." I muttered.

"Good morning." said Gazzy, walking into the kitchen, closely followed by Fang and Angel.

"Good morning." Iggy and I said.

"Where're Ella and Nudge?" my mom asked, walking into the kitchen and heading to the counter to put on a cup of coffee.

"Ella and Total are trying to wake Nudge up." Angel said. She picked up a slice of bacon Iggy had set on the table.

This was when Ella came down the stairs with Total and Akila, quickly followed by an oddly cheery Nudge. "Max, I'm so sorry about this, but it's the only way I could get her out of the bed. But if you want to blame someone, blame Total. It was his idea." Ella said.

"What are you guys talking about?" I asked.

Nudge bounced over to me, and started babbling. "Well, you know how Total and Akila are getting married? Well, Dr. Martinez said we could have it here, and she talked to Mr. Pierpont and he said we could have it out in the garden whenever we want. And since you're the maid of honor and all, we need to go shopping so we can get your dress, and me and Ella's dresses for the bridesmaids, and then Angel's dress for the flower girl! And we can get make-up and jewelry and shoes, and... Oooh, the guys will need to come too so they can get their tuxedo's and -"

I cut her off. "No."

"But -"

"No, Nudge. I am not going shopping."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "You can get some other clothes besides all the pink stuff you have now. Besides, Mr. Pierpont said we could use his credit card to buy whatever we want. Including decorations."

I cursed mentally. She had me trapped. Either I'd go shopping for an entire day, or wear pink clothes for the rest of my stay in Africa.

I looked at my mom for help.

"Sorry Max. You're on your own for this one." she said.

This was not good.

* * *

**Really hope you all liked it! R&R!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Next chapter! R&R**

* * *

Chapter 7

Max POV:

"Max! Try this one on! Ooh, and this one too. OMG, look at that one!"

"Nudge, I have enough things to try on! Stop throwing things over the changing room door!" I yelled at her.

In case you looked over the obvious, I gave in.

Stupid Bambi eyes…

We had already been at this giant shopping mall (in one of Africa's richer cities) for over two and a half hours, and we had only been in two stores.

I quickly changed back into my regular clothes, paid for everything, and dragged Nudge, Ella, and Angel out of the store.

"Max, we weren't finished!"

"But I am. I have enough clothes. You pretty much made me buy most of the two stores! Why don't you bug the guys like you bug me?" Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy were able to leave early, because they went with my mom to buy their tuxedo's and shoes, and then left when they were done.

"They're more stubborn, and we can't put make-up on them." Nudge said.

"Who said anything about make-up?! I never agreed to make-up!" I said.

"Too bad. For the wedding, you're wearing make-up. Besides, that's what mom went and got while we dragged you around the other stores, because we knew you would argue."

"Hi girls." My mom said, walking up to us. "Max, I bought your outfit for the wedding with the shoes and jewelry, so you don't have to try it on until we get home, but I'm sure it's a perfect fit. And since everyone else already bought their outfits, we can head home!"

"Oh, thank God." I muttered, while everyone else groaned.

"So when is the actual wedding going to be?" I asked. Not that the _dogs_ needed a wedding…

"Soon."

Yeah, _that _narrows it down.

"How soon exactly?"

"Really soon." Said Ella, playing with her I-pod.

I rolled my eyes.

"She means in a few days Max. Maybe a week; two weeks at the most." Said Angel. "And I heard what you said in your head. Just because they're dogs doesn't mean they don't love each other like you love Fang, or like Ella loves Iggy, or like you love Dylan."

Everyone in the car froze, and my mom stomped on the brake, causing all of us to fly forward and then back again as we hit the seats. She pulled over to the side of the road so as not to cause traffic.

Everyone looked at Angel, and then they all looked at me.

"Max?" Ella asked slowly. "What is she talking about?"

I couldn't speak; my mouth was dry. "I – um –"

"It was what Mr. Pierpont told Max and Dylan the day he needed to talk to them both. He told them that Dylan was created for one reason, which was to be Max's perfect other half. She got really mad, and then punched him. Which brings us to how Mr. Pierpont broke his nose." Angel said.

I stared at Angel while everyone else stared at me.

"Max...?" my mom asked. "Is this true?"

"Um… Well… Kind of?" I said awkwardly.

"Kind of?!" Nudge shrieked. "Why didn't you tell us?!"

"Because it was none of your business!" I yelled at them. Then I turned to Angel. "And you had no right to be in my mind to find that out, and you had absolutely no right to tell them that, Angel! I don't love him! Fang is my boyfriend!"

She shrugged casually. "You can still love Dylan even though Fang is your boyfriend."

"I don't love Dylan!" I hissed.

"You almost kissed him last night." She said. Oh, she was in _so _much trouble.

"No, I didn't!" I lied perfectly.

"Yes, you did. Do you want me to tell them what happened last night to prove it?" she asked.

My mouth fell open, and everyone stared at me.

My mom was the first to compose herself. She started the engine again and began driving; a little too fast for my taste.

"You should have told them when you had the chance, Max." she continued. "You shouldn't have tried to keep it from them. They would've found out eventually. Now, you have to tell Iggy, Gazzy, and Fang."

"Angel, it's none of your business, it's not of their business," I motioned to everyone else in the car, "And it's none of Fang, Iggy, and Gazzy's business. Do I make myself clear?"

"If you won't tell them, I will." She said, getting out of the car, and skipping towards the door. I hadn't noticed we had pulled up to the mansion.

That little brat was in so. Much. Trouble.

The rest of the day, every single time someone called my name, I jumped. I had a big feeling that Angel wasn't lying when she said she'd tell the guys. And I knew, once she told them, they would come find me, wanting answers that I either wouldn't have, or wouldn't tell them.

I really _really_ needed to have a talk with that girl. She has overstepped her boundaries one too many times.

"Max?" someone said, opening the door to my room.

As I had many times that day, I jumped.

"Calm down, Max." Said Nudge. "You've been like this all day." She handed me a long garment bag that no doubt had my dress in it. She handed it to me. "Dr. Martinez wants you to try this on."

I nodded, taking the bag and heading into my bathroom.

"You don't have to jump every time someone calls your name Max. I don't think she's told the guys yet."

I sighed as I took the dress out of the bag. It was a dark reddish color. "Still, I'm dreading when she does. She had no right to tell them that!"

Outside the door, Nudge gasped.

"Nudge? You alright?"

"Yeah, fine." She said in an unusually high voice. "Umm… Listen, Max. I'll be right back. I have to go do… something."

I rolled my eyes. "Hurry up. I don't want to keep this dress in my room." I yelled back out at her.

No response.

I quickly slipped on the dress. It was strapless, went down to a little below my knees, and fit to my figure.

I looked at myself in the mirror, and shuddered. I didn't look like myself at all. I sighed, and took off the dress, slipping it into the garment bag.

I changed back into my clothes, and walked out the door, and froze.

Fang was sitting on the edge of my bed, with his arms crossed over his chest, looking extremely angry.

_Uh, oh. This is bad. This is very very bad._

At least now I know why Nudge was so eager to get out of my room.

He looked at me. "We need to talk."

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**Review! Oh, yeah. I have a question for everyone. In JP's books, did anyone else think that something was up with Angel? I mean, even _after_ Max and Angel told the flock she only "betrayed_"_ them so they could escape from the School. I don't know about you guys, but I think something's up with Angel. Ever since she "pretended" to betray them, something's just been... different, or wrong about her... What do you guys think? R&R**


	8. Chapter 8

**I am so sorry that this is so short, but I will update as soon as possible. This is just so I won't leave you at a cliffhanger as big as I did last time. R&R please!**

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Chapter 8

Max POV:

_(Previously:)_

_He looked at me. "We need to talk."_

"Sorry," I said, heading towards the door, "Things to do, people to see. You know how that goes."

I lunged for the door, trying to escape, but he grabbed my arm, pulling me back. "That's not even funny, Max."

"Who said I was trying to be funny?" I asked, automatically getting defensive.

"Max, I already heard it from Angel, but I want to hear it from you. What did Mr. Pierpont tell you and Dylan the day he needed to talk to the two of you alone, and what happened last night between you and Dylan."

"Nothing. Mr. Pierpont told me about my "mission" here, and Dylan and I ate a few sandwiches and talked. We compared notes on our flocks. I wanted to see if his was as nosy as mine." I said sarcastically.

Obviously, he didn't laugh. His eyes flashed. "If you've found someone else, Max, I need to know now rather than later."

I was automatically hurt, but I didn't let it show. Did he really think that low of me? "Look, all Mr. Pierpont told us was that Dylan was made for the purpose of being my perfect other half. Just because some stupid millionaire says that, doesn't mean it's true. It could be just another test for all we know." I said, clenching my teeth. "I don't care what Angel said to you. I do not like or love Dylan, and I never will. I've barely talked to the guy. If you don't believe me, then get out, before I throw you out myself." I threw open the door.

He shrugged, and walked to the door. Before he left, he turned and looked at me. "I'm not an idiot Max. I know what happened last night between the two of you, and I know you didn't kiss him. But, I also know that you're not telling me the whole truth."  
"I've already told you more than you needed to know." I said coldly.

He shook his head, and walked out, and I slammed the door behind him.

That was when the Voice decided to speak up. _**Maximum, you have to learn to know the difference between a time to trust your heart, and a time to trust your instincts.**_

_And that's supposed to mean…_

_**It means, when you talked to Fang, you used your instincts. You got mad, so your first instinct was to snap out at him. You should have used your heart.**_

I rolled my eyes. _Whatever Voice._

_**I'm serious, Maximum. Learning the difference is the only way you'll be able to save Fang.**_

My head shot up. _Wait, what?_

_**The only way you can save Fang is if you learn the difference between trusting your heart and trusting your instincts. Very soon Max, you will have to make a choice. It will be one of the hardest things you've ever done, and the way you choose could man either the destruction of Fang, or the destruction of the world.**_

_What's the actual choice I have to make? _I asked the voice, not expecting an answer.

So you can pretty much imagine my shock when it replied.

_**Max, you will be put in a situation where you will have to choose between your love of the flock, or your love of Fang. You will have the chance to choose between one or the other, not both.**_

_So that pretty much means…_

_**Yes, Max. Either Fang lives, or everyone else in the flock lives. You will either trust your heart and save Fang, or trust your instincts, and save the flock.**_

But no pressure or anything…

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**R&R**


	9. Chapter 9

**Okay, I couldn't resist putting up the next chapter. Yes, this one is much longer than some of the others, and yes, I've already started writing chapter ten, so whenever I finish it I'll post it. :D**

Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, but I do own Dylan's flock... (So original...)

**Quick Note: Uganda (pronounced: Yoo - Gan - da for those of you who don't know) _is_ a _real _country in Africa and the war that's going on _is _Africa's _longest_ running war. None of the next four paragraphs are made up. We had these guest speakers come and talk to them about us at our School. It's a group called "Invisible Children." It's a really good cause:  
Check out the website where I got my info from (just copy and paste into the browser and take the parenthesis away from the period and slashes):** invisiblechildren(.)com(/)about(/)history

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Chapter 9

Max POV:

Today was going to be the first day we go to that Uganda place and help out with kids.

Okay, so it turns out that the war that's going on in Uganda is Africa's longest running war. In the 1980's, this psychotic lady Alice Lakwena announced to the people that some Spirit came and spoke to her about overthrowing the government for being "unjust" to the people. Her group, the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), gained a lot of followers as people started to resent the government.

Soon enough, Lakwena was exiled and was replaced with this evil dude named Joseph Kony. Kony's movement wasn't as great as Lakwena's movement, so, to stay in power, he resorted to abducting kids and entering them into his army. Over 90% of the army is kids who were abducted.

Then the government evicted thousands of people from their homes and sent them to these large camps, in order to provide some protection for them. Now, even though it's almost a decade later, at least a million people are still living in these camps, and are struggling to survive through poverty, disease, and starvation.

Our job?

Mainly to help them however we can.

And today, that meant start working on a small school that the kids could go to because barely any of them had a proper education. Not that we were the best examples of that or anything…

"Oh my God, Max, this is going to be so awesome. I feel really great that I get to make a difference and help these people like this. It's so… so… awesome!"

"Yeah, I get it Nudge." I said, looking out the passenger side window absently. We were heading to the location we were going to start building the school in one of the camps, and there were so many of us, we had to take two cars. My flock, the two dogs, Ella, and my mom in one, and Dylan's flock, Jeb, and Brigid in the other. Our car was mostly quiet, except for Nudge, who was still talking, not even realizing that everyone was tuning her out.

Fang and I hadn't talked to each other since our "fight," and everyone could tell that we were both very angry, so they were wise enough not to talk, because they no doubt would have wound up setting us off.

And it would _not_ have been pretty.

We pulled up at the site a few minutes later. There were a bunch of people standing around, who were no doubt the construction workers, or the designers of the building. All around the area were tools, boards, pipes, wires, etc.

Jeb got out of his car and walked up to them, saying something I didn't understand. They talked for a few minutes, and Jeb waved for us all to get out of the cars.

I stepped out of the car, and the first thing that hit me was the hot musty air. The air had a dry, sort of stale smell that seemed to suffocate you. "Ugh," Gazzy said. "We've lived in caves that were better than this."

We all nodded. "I can barely breathe in this air." Nudge said.

There was a large area set for the school, and then at least a mile or two away you could see little houses popping up everywhere. Well, they weren't really houses so much as small round dirt huts.

"This is pathetic." Ella muttered, looking out at the huts.

"Yeah, it is." I said. "That's why we're here."

"Alright guys," said Jeb. "Let's get working."

We all stepped forward, but Jeb said, "Just the guys. Girls, you have something else we need you to do. Including you Max." he said, nodding at me.

The guys from the two flocks stepped forward and walked over to the construction workers, while Jeb told us girls, "You all will be going into the village and interacting with the kids. Now, I don't want you going out in there by yourselves, because it is dangerous. Sometimes, soldiers do patrol in there looking for people to kidnap. So you all will be picking a partner to go with."

While everyone else quickly picked partners, I had a question. "So, let me get this straight." I said, shaking my head. "Since I'm a _girl_ I have to go to the village and I can't help build?"

Some of the construction workers in the background snickered and rolled their eyes.

Um, _excuse me? _Can you say _sexist?_

Jeb was about to reply, but I pushed him to the side. "You morons have something to say to me?" I asked the workers.

Most of them rolled their eyes and went back to their work or just plain ignored me.

Oh, _hell_ no.

You do _not _ignore an angry Maximum Ride.

I stepped forward, ready to throw some punches at the same time Iggy and Fang stepped forward, grabbing both my arms and pulling me backwards.

"Can you even go a day without breaking somebody's nose or knocking someone's lights out?" Iggy asked.

"No." I said, struggling to get away from them as they held me back. "Come on, let me go! It wasn't like I was gonna hurt them."

They both stared at me, which was kinda weird since Iggy was blind.

"Let me rephrase that. I wasn't going to hurt them, _much._"

They brought me back to the others, and Fang muttered to me, "At least _try _not to get in a fight with anyone."

I made sure no one else was looking, and I shot him the bird. He smirked.

The two of them walked back over to the construction workers, and Jeb started talking to us again, "As I was saying, you girls need to head into the village and interact with the people. Mostly, the children. See if they need anything, or see if you can help them somehow. Watch out for the soldiers. If you see them coming," he looked straight at me, "try to make yourself as invisible as you can. Do not let them see you. Is that clear?"

I rolled my eyes at him, and everyone else nodded.

"Alright then." He said, walking over to the guys.

"Okay, girls." Said my mom, clapping her hands to get out attention. "Let's get going. We don't want to be out too late. Does everyone have a partner?"

That's when I realized that there was an uneven number of girls, unless we were taking the dogs. I stood there hoping my mom wouldn't notice that I didn't have a partner, when Brigid stared straight at me. "Okay, there are an uneven number of us, so we'll have to have one group of three."

"That's okay," I said, shrugging. "I'd rather be on my own anyway."

"You're not going by yourself, Max." Brigid said stubbornly.

"Brigid is right Max. You can't go in there by yourself." My mom said.

"Maybe you should go with Angel and Rachel, Max." Ella suggested. "Since they're the youngest."

Angel and Rachel smiled almost, well, angelically at me. I didn't know Rachel that well, and Angel wasn't technically a perfect little Angel. I was actually thinking of changing her name. Maybe to like, Devil or something like that.

"That's a great idea Ella." Said my mom.

"Yeah, thanks Ella." I muttered.

"Let's get going then." My mom said. We started walking to the village.

I don't know about you, but I have a bad feeling about this.

We separated from each other when we got to the village, and Angel, Rachel, and I were walking around, trying to find something we could do. It looked like it was deserted, and some of the people that we asked to help didn't want to be helped. So, we were just walking around.

Angel and Rachel were in front of me, talking about something. I overheard the words French toast, swimming pool, and computer.

Yeah, I don't know either.

I looked around, and sighed. I hated to admit it, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe this would all go smoothly and nothing bad would happen.

Yeah, and maybe the moon was made out of cheese.

I snorted.

Both of the girls looked back at me.

I shook my head. "I was just thinking." They both turned back to their conversation.

Suddenly, Angel stopped dead in her tracks, and I almost bumped straight into her. "What's up Angel?" I asked her.

"Someone's in trouble." She said, looking up at me.

"One of the flocks?" I asked.

"No." she said. "That way." She pointed to a small road that was well off the path we were taking, and started down it, Rachel and I following close behind.

We walked for a few minutes, and Angel stopped again. "There." She whispered.

We all peered around the houses to find what she was looking at.

Big, dark men, in dark green camouflage outfits, all of them holding machine guns, were surrounding some kind of lump of rags. It took me a second to realize the lump of rags was a person. It looked like a little girl, maybe about eight years old. They were yelling at her all at the same time, and I couldn't really understand what they were saying, but I got the gist of it.

Whoa, Déjà vu of Ella and those bums who were trying to hurt her back in Arizona.

Suddenly, one of them reached down and picked up the dirt by the arm. She cried out in pain, and the other men laughed. My blood boiled in my veins, and I stepped forward, but angel and Rachel pulled me back before I could be seen. "You heard what Jeb said, Max!" Angel said.

"You'll be killed." Added Rachel.

"I don't care." I said, pulling away from them and walking out into the open. "Hey!" I yelled at them. "Didn't your mother ever teach you to be nice to children?"

Eight pairs of eyes swiveled to meet mine. Seven of them were filled with anger, and one of them filled with fear.

The one who was holding the girl stepped dropped her onto the ground and stepped forward. "Ah, you are the bird kids yes?" he said, with a heavy African accent.

And _how _did he know that? "Bird kids? Seriously? Where did you hear something as crazy as that?"

He motioned to his buddies, and they all stepped forward. "We have our sources."

I snorted. "Uh huh. Bird kids… That's a new one. Never heard something as stupid as that."

"Max…" I heard Angel mutter from behind me.

I ignored her as the guys stepped forward again. We all stared each other down for what seemed like hours. You could literally feel the tension in the stuffy air.

That's when one moron stepped forward. Faster than lighting, I dropped to the ground and swept his feet out from under him, and he dropped to the ground.

I stayed down, and positioned myself in a fighting stance. "Anyone else?"

Which was pretty much when it turned into an all-out mini-war.

Now, normally, I would have been able to beat them no problem, but there was something about these guys that was different. They were strong. Too strong.

_School-type mutated _strong.

I threw another round house kick at them, and got a glimpse of the two girls behind me, they both looked like they were about to jump forward and join the fight. But we would lose. I knew that I was going to lose this fight; at least, I would lose by myself. But I wasn't taking the chance of the two of them getting hurt.

"No!" I yelled at the two of them. "U and A! NOW!"

They both shook their heads and were about to step forward.

"U AND A NOW!" I screamed at them. They backed up in fear, and opened their wings, both of them white like a dove's, and flew off immediately.

"Angel!" I yelled, and she turned around to look at me from high in the air. "Get the rest of the flock, and get them out of here! Tell them what happened!"

She turned with a nod and flew off to catch up with the Rachel. This "New Threat" that I was dealing with turned and looked where I was staring, and while I was distracted, I felt a sharp pain in the back of my head.

I can't believe I was _that _stupid enough to let my guard down.

I fell to my knees, and tried to blink away the black spots that came across my vision. I felt something come in contact with the back of my head.

Why couldn't they just shoot me now and get it over with? It would be much easier.

I felt the pain on my head again, and again, and _again._

I fell to the ground, and slowly but surely, I passed out. My last thought was, _And this is what I get for helping people…_

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**Alright, please review! I am definately not afraid to hold the next chapter hostage if I don't get some reviews. Tell me what you think of the chapter, any ideas for future chapters, etc., etc., etc., ... R&R**


	10. Chapter 10

**Hi everyone! It's the weekend! YAY! Hopefully I will update a lot this weekend, but if I don't, please don't hate me. I do have a busy weekend (bridesmaid dress shopping [ugh, i hate shopping], out to eat at a really awesome resteraunt, etc.) But that's all tomorrow, and if I don't update then, I will try to update on Sunday.**

Disclaimer: I don't own MR, JP does. I own Dylan's flock!

**Thank you guys for all the comments and reviews. You have no idea how much I appreciate them! Night owl-Day goddess said on a review that she cannot believe that I have less than 100 reviews.  
Well, everyone, tell your friends about my story, and everyone keep on reviewing! I'm sure I'll get there sooner or later! (hopefully)**

**On with the story! Quick Note: I had to make this chapter in Fang's POV, because Max was unconscious at the end of the last chapter. Duh!**

**Enjoy and Review!**

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Ch. 10:

Fang POV:

"Hey, Ig? Toss me that hammer." I called out to the blind pyro.

He picked up the hammer and tossed it to me with perfect precision. How he could do that being blind completely amazes me.

I hammered in a few nails and sat on the ground where Ig was. "Of course while we have to do all the hard stuff, the girls get to go do all the easy stuff." He said.

"And you're surprised about this because…"

"I'm not saying I'm surprised. I'm saying I don't like it." He answered.

"You and me both." I muttered. I glanced around at where everyone else was, some of them working, some of them taking breaks, like Iggy and me. My gaze landed on Dylan, who was talking to one of his "flock members."

Ugh, Dylan.

The name just made me want to spit fire.

"Fang? Hellooo? Fang?"

"Huh?" I asked, looking at him.

"I called you like six times."

"My bad." I told him.

"Thinking about Max?" he asked me.

"Maybe." I said defensively.

He smirked. "What really happened between the two of you? I mean, I've heard bits and pieces but not the whole story."

"If that was any of your business, I'd tell you, but since it's not, you don't need to know." I said, grabbing my water and taking a swig from it.

He rolled his sightless eyes. "Fine, be like that. I'll just ask Angel. I'm sure she'll tell me."

I glared at him, which was pretty much a dumb thing to do since he couldn't see. "She'll twist up the whole story."

"Then tell me yourself. I'm more likely going to believe you than her, but if the only story I have is yours…"

I stared at him. "That's blackmail."

"Not technically."

I sighed, and told him everything that had happened.

_Everything._

"So, what am I supposed to do, Ig? Watch this wannabe come in and steal Max from me?" I asked when I was finished the entire story.

"No…" he said slowly. "But do you really think that Max would leave you, someone she trusts and depends on completely, someone she's known her whole life, for someone she met a few days ago?"

"This is Max we're talking about. Anything could happen."

"True." He said. "But I still don't think she'd leave you for him. Besides, you're at fault too."

"How the hell am I at fault?" I asked.

"You went about talking to her the wrong way."

"When some psycho billionaire comes and introduces her to this guy who he says is her perfect other half, excuse me for being angry and over-protective of my _girlfriend._"

"Doesn't matter. You still went about it the wrong way. You should have let Max tell her side of the story. Did she kiss him?"

"No." I muttered. "When she told me she didn't, I could tell she was being honest."

"See, then you should have waited on an explanation from her about everything else."

"Put yourself in my situation, and Ella in Max's." I told him. "You would probably be mad too."

"Touché." He said thoughtfully. "I may have been angry, but in some ways I would have gone about it differently."

I rolled my eyes. "How so?"

"Well, if someone tried to put the move on Ella, he'd would soon be six feet under the ground in a coffin. Killed by a "mysterious bomb threat."

"I'm not gonna kill him Ig."

He shrugged. "Your choice."

"I still don't see how –"

"FANG!" I heard a high voice scream.

Iggy and I looked up to see, well, I looked up to see Angel and the girl Rachel running up to us. Iggy kind of turned in the direction of their voices.

"What's up Angel?" I stood up, wondering what she wanted. I thought she would stop once she got in front of me, but she jumped in my arms crying. "Angel, what happened? Where's Max? I thought she went with you."

Angel couldn't answer, she was too busy crying. I looked down at Rachel, and asked, "What happened?" I asked as everyone else walked up to us, wondering about the commotion.

She opened her mouth and rushed out, "We were walking around the village and there was this little girl being terrorized by soldiers, and Max wanted to help her and a fight started and Max got captured." She was breathing heavy and had tears in her eyes.

I put Angel down on the ground and made her look at me. "Angel, you need to bring us where you last saw her."

She nodded, and whipped out her wings.

Jeb pushed his way through the crowd then. "What happened? What's going on?"

"Max has been captured by some soldiers." I told him as Iggy, Gazzy, who had just walked up, and I whipped out our wings. Jeb cursed, while everyone else just stood there, trying to figure out what was going on.

Iggy, Angel, and Gazzy jumped in the air, and I was about to follow, until Dylan grabbed my arm.

Oh, joy.

"We're going with you." He told me.

"No, you're not. This is Flock business." Before he could comment, I continued, "The real flock. Not some copy."

His eyes narrowed. "We're more like the real flock than you'll ever be."

"Uh, considering we are the real flock, I think your wrong about that." I said, rolling my eyes.

"At least I have one thing you don't." he said, smirking.

I rolled my eyes again. "I doubt it, but enlighten me."

"Your girlfriend."

I narrowed my eyes and then I pretty much blanked out. And the next thing I knew, Dylan was on the ground, out cold.

I flew up to the others without another word, and we all started to follow Angel to where they last saw Max.

Iggy turned to me. "Nice punch man, I heard it from all the way up here. But, remind me never to get you angry."

I smirked.

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**Hm...Not one of my best chapters, but it'll have to do for now. Please Review! **


	11. AN IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

**A/N:**

**Okay guys. Here's the deal:**

**1. I will definitely be posting up more chapters, but I definitely need more reviews! So, review if you immediately want to see more chapters!**

**2. I need some ideas for my story so I have some questions I want you guys to answer:**

**Q1: Should I keep putting other flock members POV's? Fang, Iggy, Ella... maybe even Dylan. Personally, I don't like him, but everyone has their own opinion.**

**Q2: What other pairings do you want me to do? I don't think anyone wants Mylan, so I won't even ask about that. Should I have more Fax, Eggy, maybe even some Nazzy thrown in there somewhere?**

**Q3: Where should Max wake up in the next chapter? Come up with your own ideas. It could be that she was captured and brought in for testing or something, or she could just wake up in a ditch a few miles away.**

**Q4: What is your opinion on Angel? When Angel "betrayed" them in the third book, I was really upset because she was one of my favorite characters. But then all of a sudden when she said it was "just to help everyone escape," I don't know, there was something that seemed wrong about that to me. And recently, in MAX, when she was all bossy and power-hungry... There's definitely something wrong with her. Tell me what you think.**

**If you have any other suggestions, comments, or just want to review for the sake of reviewing, please, don't hesitate. **

**Reviews will only make me publish the chapters faster!**

**~~~~Shelby~~~~**


	12. Chapter 11

**Hey guys! First of all, I wanna give a few shout-outs to everyone who helped give some ideas for my stories. Including Night owl-Day goddess, 123-Markham-123, imacrazy101, along with some other reviewers, Here we go again5, and black-velvet-wings, etc., etc., and a lot of other people who really helped with this story/chapter.**

**Please Review and tell me what you think!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Maximum Ride, but I do own Dylans flock and Cynthia Bronson. (You'll find out who she is soon enough.)**

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Ch. 11:

Max POV:

The first thing that hit me when I woke up was the MASSIVE headache. I opened my eyes a slit to see I was laying on my stomach. I groaned and rolled onto my back. There was a slight pain in my chest, about where my heart was, but I didn't think anything of it. I sat up slowly, and immediately got very dizzy. Once the dizziness went away, I tried to get my bearings.

I looked around. I was in a dark room. It was hot and stuffy, and I couldn't see any furniture.

I stood up shakily, leaning against the wall, and looked around again. Jeb had taught us that there was a way out of everything. There is _always_ a way out. You just had to find it. I took a few steps forward, running my hand across the wall, until I came to a doorknob. My eyes widened, and I grabbed it and turned it.

_It was open._

My first instinct should have been to get the hell out of there, but the only thing that came to my mind was, _Why in the world would they leave the door open?_

I peeked out the door and into a long white hallway. I immediately smelt the antiseptic smell. I couldn't be back at the School. I can't have been unconscious _that_ long.

Unless, Africa had their own version of The School. Or Itex for that matter.

I glanced down the hallway both ways, and it was completely empty. I stepped out of the door quietly and carefully, not making a sound. I looked down both ways of the hallway, and turned right. Why? Just a hunch.

I got to the edge of the hall, and looked around the corner.

Empty.

I walked down the hallway. There was nothing. No doors, no windows, just white walls, and floor and ceiling tiles, and the antiseptic smell.

I walked down a few more hallways and down a flight of stairs without meeting anyone.

Until I came to a door.

It was open and light was shining through it. I could smell food, and my stomach growled. There was talking and laughing coming through the door. I knew the only thing I could do was try to sneak past it without being seen. I stepped forward quietly and peeked around the door. There were people all with dark skin, but different genders, talking laughing, eating and drinking, overall having a good time.

How was I going to sneak past them?

I took a deep breath, and stepped forward careful not to make a sound. But of course, me being the klutz that I am, didn't notice the piece of trash that was on the floor, and tripped, falling flat on the ground.

All the faces in the room whipped around and faced me. There was a split second of silence and we all looked at each other. I didn't think twice. I jumped up and ran as fast as I could, not giving them the chance to follow me. I ran through the winding halls, not stopping. I passed a few people, but they didn't bother with me.

I ran and found a door that read EXIT.

_Yes!_

I pushed open the door and ran out, quickly glancing at my surroundings.

Dirt.

No grass, no trees, nothing green in sight.

Just dirt.

There was a gigantic building behind me and I quickly ran to where a tall metal fence surrounded the entire area. I couldn't climb over the fence, for fear of it electrocuting me, so the logical answer was to fly over it. I stepped back a few steps, and, not seeing anyone coming after me, I ran and jumped into the air whipping out my wings.

Which was when my world literally came crashing down.

What felt like millions of bolts of electricity went through me, starting at my heart, and spreading out through my body to the tips of my fingers and toes.

I screamed bloody murder. It felt like my brain was going to explode.

I dropped to the ground, folding in my wings as I did. And the electricity stopped immediately.

My breathing was heavy and ragged, and my head flopped toward the large building. I saw people walking toward me. There were maybe four people in white lab coats scribbling down on clipboards, and two people walking in front of them. One male, one female. One was a face I recognized, one wasn't. The man was in an expensive black suit, and the woman was in a crisp black skirt and starched white shirt, and they came towards me, eyeing me with disgust.

They stopped a few feet away from me. I hadn't moved.

The woman came up to me, and nudged me with her foot. I didn't move, which apparently was unacceptable to her.

She swing her foot back and landed a kick in my chest so hard, I could swear I felt a rib break. I gasped and turned over, clutching my chest. "She's alive." said the woman in an American accent. She looked at the scientists, and they immediately started writing things down.

"I'm surprised nothing has killed her yet." said the man, the voice I recognized, but couldn't place where I had heard it before.

"I have been watching her. Never underestimate her." said the woman.

She bent down to me, and I stared up at her. "Do you know who I am?" she asked.

"Nope." I said. "But I know you know who _I_ am."

Her eyes narrowed. "I assume you already know my associate, Mr. Chu." she pointed to the man in the suit.

That's when I remembered him. "Of course. Me and Chewey go waaaaaay back. He's tried to kill me, what, I think about ten times already. Maybe more? Oh, and he may look like an idiot, talk like an idiot, and act like an idiot, but don't worry, he really is an idiot. I'll never forget the first time we met, though I'll keep trying."

She raised an eyebrow at me.

I smiled at her innocently, and sat up.

Mr. Chu stepped up, his face blood red with anger. "Why are you not dead yet?!"

I stared at him. "I don't know what makes you so stupid, but it really works."

He reached down and smacked me. "Quiet, you insulant girl!"

"Jeez, moody much?" I asked.

He raised his hand as if to hit me again, but the woman stopped him, and pushed him back.

"My name is Cynthia Bronson." The woman said.

I stared at her. "And this is important to me because..."

"It is important to you because you will do whatever I say, when I say it. Understand?"

Okay, I know it was one of the dumbest things I've ever done, but I couldn't help myself. I burst out laughing. "Let me guess, you must be an experiment in Artificial Stupidity?" I said between my fits of laughter. "Answer me this, are you always this stupid, or are you making a special effort today?"

Her eyes narrowed at me. "Your so called flock is on their way to try to rescue you."

I immediately stopped laughing, and I carefully stood up in front of her; she was almost my height. "Don't you _dare _touch my flock."

"I see I've struck a nerve." she said, smiling at me. "You see, Maximum. You are stuck here. You have been unconscious for a few hours."

"And?" I asked.

"How did you like that electric shock when you opened your wings, hm?"

I narrowed my eyes at her.

"I'm afraid that would be my doing. While you were unconscious, we decided to try a simple little experiment. We did a small surgery on you, which would explain the jolts of electricity. We inserted a small computer chip right next to your heart that is programmed to send out shocking jolts of electricity whenever you open up your wings."

My heart plummeted as what she was saying sunk in.

She seemed to enjoy my expression. "Yes, that means you cannot fly out of here and escape our clutches again. You will not be able to open your wings, and you definitely will not be able to fly."

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***sniff* I literally had tears in my eyes when I wrote this. I'm sorry if you guys hate me for ending the chapter like this, but I will try to update tonight, if I can't then I'll update ASAP. R&R? **


	13. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12 is here! I might post up chapter 13 if I finish it tonight, but don't get your hopes up. I'll try to finish it, and if I don't, I'll be sure to finish it tomorrow and post it up whenever I can.**

**PLEASE R&R!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

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Ch. 12:

Fang POV:

Angel led us to where she last saw Max, but, like I expected, it was deserted.

"Angel, go around and try to find Nudge, Ella and Dr. Martinez. The only chance we have of finding Max is with all of us, not with just a few of us."

"Okay." she said, flying off quickly to look for Nudge.

I looked around the spot we were in, and I couldn't see anything. There were no signs anywhere that there had been a fight. I sighed. At this rate, we were never going to find Max.

"Fang?" Gazzy asked.

"What?"

"Um, I think I know where Max is."

Iggy and I stared at him. Well, I stared, Iggy just kind of looked in that direction. "What do you mean?" Iggy asked.

"I'm not really sure." he said, shrugging. "It might be a new power."

_Fang?_ Angel asked in my head.

_What Angel?_

_I'm on my way with Nudge, Dr. Martinez, Ella, and Brigid._

I rolled my eyes. _You had to bring Brigid?_

_Sorry, Fang. By the way, Gazzy does have a new power. I can tell, it's kind of confusing, but he can sort of sense a person's "aura" and can tell which direction they went. Kind of like a tracker or a GPS._

_Thanks Angel. Where are you guys?_

_"_Right here." she said, walking up behind me, with everyone else following. "I already explained to them what happened and about Gazzy's new power."

"So I do have a new power?" he asked.

Angel nodded and explained what he could do to him and Iggy.

"That's awesome!" gazzy exclaimed while giving Iggy a high-five.

"So, you know where Max is, right Gazzy?" Ella asked.

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure."

"Then can we go now, before they do something to hurt her?" Nudge exclaimed. "I mean, she could be -"

"Now's not the time for the Nudge Channel." I said, let's go get Max.

I whipped out my wings and flew off, the flock flying close behind me.

"Which way, Gaz?" I yelled to him over the wind.

He pointed North, and we all turned so we were flying North.

We flew North for about five hours in absolute silence. I mean, even I thought it was too quiet. I think that we were all just nervous about Max, wondering if she was okay.

Max...

What did she want me to do? I couldn't just sit around while _Dylan _tries to take her away from me.

Did I care about Max? Of course.

Was she my best friend? Definately.

Did I love her? In more ways than one.

Was I gonna share her with some pretty boy wanna-be? I think you can come up with an answer to that yourself.

_Dylan's not going to take Max away from you Fang. She loves you too much. _Angel said telepathically.

_You can't be sure of that Angel._

_Yes, I can Fang. I just know these sort of things._

I sighed, and blocked Angel out of my head.

For some reason, I wasn't at all reassured.

Max POV:

I was _so freaking bored._

Who knew not being able to use my wings would get me all depressed and moody and stuff. They actually let me roam around the place. I mean, what was the point if I couldn't fly away and escape? And trust me, I tried to escape. Many times. All of them more painful than the last. And, because I kept on trying to escape, I got beat up for it. So far, I had a black eye, a few broken ribs, I was bleeding and bruised in different spots across my face and neck, and arms, and legs, and I also had what felt like a broken arm.

I sighed. I'd had worse.

That girl, Cynthia, said that the flock was on their way. how would they have even known where to look, and its been over three hours since she told me that. It was around five thirty in the evening and, like I said, _I was so freaking bored._

I was standing at a window, looking out, watching the birds, wishing I could be flying out there with them. I opened the window as much as I could, and stuck my head out. It was nice to feel the cool air on my skin. My raptor vision scanned the surrounding area.

I was about to pull my head back in the building, when I saw them.

They were a few miles away, but with the bright sky, I could see them clearly, getting closer and closer to the building each second.

I closed my eyes, and tried to project my thought out to Angel. _**Angel? Can you hear me?**_

_Max! Oh my God, are you alright?! What happened? What did they do to you?! Fang was so mad when he found out you got captured. He even knocked out Dylan! It was actually pretty funny. I mean he -_

_**Angel, you're starting to sound like Nudge.**_

_Sorry._

_**Just get here as fast as you guys can.**_

_We will Max. We're almost there._

_**I know. I can see you.**_

_Okay then - wait, how can you see us?_

_**I'm looking through a window. Third floor. The window's wide open.**_

She was silent for a little while, but I could still feel her presence in my head. _Why don't you just fly out to meet us? _She asked quietly.

_**I would Angel, but... I'm kind of stuck on the ground for now.**_

_So... you can't fly?_

_**Just get here as fast as you can.**_

_Okay... Wait, we can see you!_

_**Angel, let me make this clear. Only one person can come in this building. I need someone to carry me since i can't fly. I don't think anyone's realized that you guys are here already, so make it fast.**_

_Okay. _I could see them all stop in mid-air, as Angel told them what happened. I pretty much knew who they were going to send, since the only ones strong enough to carry me were either Fang or Iggy.

Sure enough, Fang and Iggy swooped down immediately and climbed through the window. I hugged Iggy, and didn't pay any attention to Fang. I was still mad at him. If he didn't like it, tough. But, like I expected he didn't make a move to hug me like Iggy did.

"What happened?!" Iggy asked. "How did you get captured this time?"

I glanced behind me. "I'll tell you the whole story later, but now, we need to go before anyone knows you guys are here."

Fang rolled his eyes, and picked me up swiftly, climbing out the window, and whipping out his wings, soon followed by Iggy.

Finally, I was out of there.

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**R&R**


	14. Chapter 13

**Woohoo! Chapter 13!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own MR, JP does, I own the "New Threat" people that kidnapped Max, Cynthia Bronson, and Dylan's Flock.**

**~~Enjoy~~**

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Chapter 13:

Max POV:

We had been flying for, say, about two hours so far, and we hadn't been shot down, yelled at, or attacked, so I thought we were doing pretty well so far. The only thing is, something wasn't right. I got out of there easy. A little too easy if you ask me.

Nudge had been talking ever since two seconds after I escaped. Iggy, Gazzy and Angel were happy to see me, and were adding bits and pieces of things into Nudge's conversation whenever they could get a word in. Fang and I hadn't spoken to each other at all and he wouldn't even look at me.

I tuned out Nudge's ramblings, and muttered to him, "Angel told me you knocked out Dylan."

He glanced down at me, and a sort of agreement passed between us. He looked at the rest of the flock. "I'm going to go fly a little bit ahead. Scout out our surroundings and everything." he said to them.

They all nodded and Nudge continued with her ramblings.

Fang flew ahead of the flock, close enough so that we could see them, but far enough so they wouldn't hear what we were saying.

I was the first one to break the silence. "You wanna tell me why you knocked him out and probably broke his nose in the process?"

He smirked. "He got on my nerves."

I rolled my eyes. "What could he have possibly said that made you angry enough to knock him out?"

He looked down at me and frowned. "Why do you care so much?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Why are you so threatened by him?"

We glared at each other for a few minutes, until he said, "How does it make you feel when you see Brigid hanging all over me? It makes you feel like you could just strangle her, and spit fire. Am I right?"

"Kind of." I said slowly.

"Well, how do you think that I feel about Dylan?"

I thought about it for a few seconds. "Oh!" I said, accidently smacking my head with my bad arm. "Ow!"

He rolled his eyes. "Broken?" he asked.

"Probably." I said. "Along with some ribs, but it's nothing I haven't had before."

He nodded and faced forward, avoiding my gaze.

I sighed, and got ready to do something I never would have thought I'd _n__ever_ do.

Talk about my feelings.

I shuddered just thinking about it, and Fang looked at me questioningly. "Fang," I started, "you know I would never leave you for him, right?"

He didn't say anything.

"You can't just ignore the subject forever Fang."

"Maybe you can't, but I can."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "I don't know what you take me for Fang, but I'm not a slut who goes from guy to guy every few days, like Lissa was." I said, without thinking. He raised an eyebrow at me, but before he could interrupt, I continued. "If I wanted Dylan, I would have kissed him a few days ago. I don't love Dylan, no matter what some stupid billionaire says about our future. I love you Fang. And, like it or not, you're stuck with me." I crossed my arms over my chest, ignoring the stabbing pain I felt in it.

He smirked, and kissed my forehead. "I think I get what you're saying."

I huffed. "Do I have to spell it out for you?"

"No thanks. I get it." He smiled one of those rare Fang smiles that brightens up my day, and he leaned down and kissed me softly.

"So, we're good?" I asked, when he pulled away.

He nodded, still smiling slightly. "Yeah." He was quiet for a few seconds, and seemed to be in a better mood. "So, why couldn't you fly yourself?" he asked.

I glanced back at the flock. Angel had looked at the two of us, probably listening to our conversation. "We're heading back to the house, right?" I asked him.

"Yeah. We need to get your mom to patch up your arm and everything."

"I'll tell you when we get back then. Too many eavesdroppers." I gestured to Angel.

He nodded.

Suffice to say, my mom pretty much went ballistic when we got back to the giant mansion. She and Ella squeezed me so hard, that they almost broke my other arm.

After fixing up my arm, my eye, my ribs, and all my cuts and bruises, my mom made me go straight to my room to get some sleep. Which was fine with me, considering the flight back took around six maybe seven hours, so it was almost midnight, and I didn't really feel like explaining what happened to them. Dylan and his flock were nowhere to be seen.

I said goodnight to my flock, knowing that Fang would soon be in my room with me, asking questions about everything that happened.

And you know, I was so looking forward to that.

Sure enough, at twelve thirty, my door opened and Fang appeared, wearing black sweatpants and no shirt.

"Had to wait until everyone else was asleep." He said, laying on top the blankets next to me.

"You're not cold?" I asked him.

He shook his head. "You're stalling, Max."

I sighed. "Fine." I sat up carefully and leaned back against the headboard of the bed. I told him everything that happened from how I got captured, to when he rescued me, but I left out the part about the wings.

He nodded thoughtfully once I was finished. "But what does this have to do with your wings not working."

"The few hours I was unconscious, they tried this new surgery on me, so that whenever I try to use my wings, a giant electric shock goes through me." I told him shakily. "I can't fly, and I can't even stretch them out."

He was quiet and he stared at the ceiling. I moved closer to him and rested my head on his chest, listening to his heart beat. "It must be hard, not being able to do what you were born to do." He said.

"You have no idea." I said.

I sat up again, thinking. "There's just something that's been bugging me a lot lately." I said.

"And what would that be?" he asked, moving so his head was in my lap and he was facing up at me.

I sighed, and ran my hands through his hair. "Something about the way I got out doesn't seem right. I mean, that was too easy. Something's up, but I'm not sure what it is."

He nodded, as much as he could in my lap. "I know what you mean. I've been thinking about that."

"And did you come up with anything?"

"Nope. Unless that chip has something to do with it, but that's all that I can think of."

I was quiet for a moment. "I can't keep that chip in, Fang."

"Somehow, I knew you were going to say that." He said.

"I just can't live the rest of my life on the ground! Besides, they could be tracking us from this chip this very minute!" I gasped. "Maybe that's it! Maybe they wanted me to escape so they could get to all of you!"

"I don't think so. We were all around the same place and all separated. It would have been much easier for them to capture us then."

"But maybe they want something from us. Some information or something, I don't know. But something's up. All these things that they're throwing at us. This thing about you "supposedly" dying, the other flock, Dylan supposedly being my perfect match, this new chip... Everything that they're throwing at us has to be part of something bigger. I just… haven't figured that part out yet." I shrugged, and leaned back against the head-board.

Fang sat up. "We'll finish talking about it tomorrow night. You need a good nights sleep. He kissed me on the forehead, and then pulled away. I growled softly and pulled him back to me, kissing him on the lips. When we pulled back, we were both breathing hard.

"What was that for?" he asked.

I shrugged. "Make up for lost time." I told him.

He smiled. "Goodnight Max." he said. He kissed me again softly, and walked out, leaving me to my jumbled thoughts.

I was _definitely_ not going to get any sleep tonight.

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**A lot of people wanted Fax, so that was your Faxy chapter! R&R?**


	15. Chapter 14

**Okay! Here's the next chapter! I might post up the next one because this one is kind of short.**

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Chapter 14:

Max POV:

I woke up at around seven the next morning. Believe me, I tried, but I just couldn't get back to sleep. I dragged myself out of bed, and stood up, stretching. I felt anxious. My heart was beating faster than normal, and I felt really really hot all of a sudden and I started up a cold sweat. It was hard to breath and the area around my heart was tight. I felt a little nauseous and very weak.

I wobbled a few steps, suddenly very dizzy. I leaned against the bathroom door, closing my eyes to try to get the dizziness to stop.

The dizziness stopped suddenly and that's when the pain started. It felt like someone had ripped a chainsaw through my heart. I couldn't breathe. My chest felt like it was about to explode. I fell to the ground onto my knees, hurting them as they hit the ground. Finally, I gathered up enough air and screamed at the top of my lungs. Only making my heart hurt more.

The last thing I remembered as I passed out again was running footsteps heading towards my room.

Fang POV:

I had dragged myself out of bed at around six o'clock maybe six thirty, and was watching Iggy make breakfast. When he was putting the food on the table was when we heard her scream.

Neither I nor Iggy thought twice. We just jumped up, and ran up the stairs to where we heard Max's scream. We'd know her scream anywhere.

When we got to the door of her room, the other flock members, along with all of Dylan's flock, Dr. Martinez and Ella, the dogs, John Abate, Jeb, and Brigid.

I got to Max's door first and pushed it open, just as Max was falling to the ground.

"Max!" I yelled.

I kneeled next to her, and checked her pulse. It was faint but it was there.

Dr. Martinez ran over and asked frantically, "What happened?!" She looked Max over and her face seemed to pale.

"No clue." I said, as Angel started crying.

"I can't hear her thoughts!" she choked out. "She's dying!"

"She's fine Ange. Ig, get the kids out of here!" I told him.

He nodded and pushed Nudge and Gazzy out the room. Angel refused to go automatically. Iggy had to pick her up and throw her over his shoulder to get her out of the room, and she kicked and screamed, wanting him to put her down. As they walked out, she gave up and cried into his shoulder.

I turned to Dylan. "Get out of here. This is our business. Not yours." I said hatefully.

He narrowed his eyes at me, but pushed his flock out of the room.

I turned back to Max. Her skin was pale white, and her skin was cool.

Distantly, I heard Dr. M yell at Brigid and John to go get her doctors kit or something. But I wasn't really paying any attention. Angel's words kept ringing over and over in my head.

_She's dying. She's dying._

I shook my head. It couldn't be true. Maximum Ride couldn't die. It wasn't possible. Was it?

Brigid ran back into the room with what looked like Dr. Martinez's black vet bag.

"Fang." Dr. Martinez called my name, pulling me back to the present.

I looked up at her.

"Do you know CPR?" she asked.

"Yeah." Jeb had explained how it to us a few years ago when we were at the E-shaped house.

"Okay, I want you to press hard on her heart three times." She said, placing something over Max's mouth.

_One, two, three._

Dr. Martinez squeezed the little contraption to push air into Max's lungs.

_One, two three._

_One, two, three._

_One, two, three._

The cycle repeated over and over again for a few minutes, Brigid and the dogs watching, with pale faces. Well, John and Brigid's faces were pale, Total's looked scared, and Akila's… I'm not sure she really understood what was going on.

Max seemed to choke and cough raggedly, and her breathing started up again. It was ragged and shallow, but she was breathing, though she stayed unconscious.

We all sighed. "Dr. Martinez?" I asked her, picking up Max, and laying her on her bed. "What happened to her?"

Dr. Martinez looked at Max. "I'm not really sure." She told me. "I can only think of one thing that could stop her breathing so suddenly, but as far as I know of, no fourteen year old girl has had it before. There was one case though, where a newborn baby had one, but that was a 1 in a million chance."

"What do you think it is?" Brigid asked her.

She sighed. "Total, watch Max. If anything else happens, come get us."

Total nodded and stood up straight, puffing out his little chest and standing on his toes to seem taller. "As you wish, madam."

I rolled my eyes, and Dr. Martinez smiled, walking out the door, motioning for all of us to follow.

We walked down a few halls until we reached Dr. Martinez's room. She gestured us inside and she started to explain her theory...

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**R&R?**


	16. Chapter 15

**Okay! Here's chapter 15! Be sure to review!**

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Chapter 15:

Max POV:

My splitting headache hit me at the first second of consciousness. I racked my brain to try and remember what had happened.

Getting up, pain in chest, sudden dizziness, passing out. Got it.

I didn't open my eyes. I just stayed where I was. Someone must have found me and moved me, because whatever I was laying on wasn't as uncomfortable as the floor.

I opened my eyes a little, and I found that I was back in my bed.

Was it all a dream?

I opened my eyes more. It was dark in my room. I could barely make out the outline of what looked like an IV. My eyes trailed down to my hand, where the IV was connected. I slowly reached over to take it out.

A pale hand reached out and stopped me. "Max…" It warned.

I blinked and gazed in the direction of whoever grabbed me.

Fang walked closer to me, and sat down next to me on the bed, his feet hanging off the side. "Go back to sleep Max." he said softly, grabbing my hand.

I shook my head slowly. "How long have I been out?" I asked softly, though my voice cracked.

"At least four days." He told me.

I closed my eyes, and cursed quietly. "What… What happened to me?"

"I talked to your mom. She said that with your symptoms, you actually have the signs of a major –"

"MAX!!!!" Four voices screamed out.

"STOP YELLING!!" I heard Dr. Martinez and Iggy yell out at the same time.

"BUT MAX IS UP!!" I heard Ella's voice scream out.

"I DON'T CARE IF ANGELINA JOLIE AND BRAD PITT WERE IN THERE ON THEIR DEATH BEDS!! STOP SCREAMING!" my mom yelled at them.

"Subtle." I muttered to Fang. He smirked.

"BUT WE WANNA GO SEE HER!!!!" Nudge cried out.

"MAX NEEDS HER SLEEP!! YOU CAN SEE HER LATER!!" Iggy yelled.

Fang rolled his eyes and walked over to the door swiftly. He opened it up. "It's kind of hard for her to sleep if all of you idiots keep screaming!" he called out to them. They all went silent instantly, and he closed the door again, coming and taking his spot next to me.

"Nice." I said quietly.

"I try."

I heard footsteps running down the halls quickly and the door swung open, bright light flooding the room.

Four kids ran into the room and jumped on my bed, they all pretty much dived at me to hug me.

"Ow!" I cried out. One of them had hit my head. I must have hit it when I fell to the floor.

"Sorry." They all said in unison, sitting back and looking at me.

"That's okay." I laughed softly.

The bright light from the door was blocked as some other people came into view. Iggy, my mom, John, and… ugh, Brigid. I made a face.

Fang must've seen it too, because I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. He squeezed my hand.

"How do you feel Max? I gave you some pain medication but I'm not sure how much would've helped." my mom told me, walking into the room.

I looked around at all the people around me. "A little claustrophobic." I said.

Everyone laughed.

"No, I'm fine. I feel absolutely normal. As normal as I can be anyway." I said.

"Well, I'm glad you're okay Max." John said. "I hope you don't mind, but I have some work to do."

I shrugged, and he said, "I hope you feel better. Come on Brigid. This is matters for family."

Brigid pulled away from him. "I've known them for a long time. I'm like part of the family."

I couldn't help it myself. I burst into laughter. But I blame the pain meds my mom gave me. It was the pills talking. Not me.

"You consider yourself a part of my family?!" I started laughing again, and it looked like the other members of the flock were trying hard not to crack smiles at my sudden outburst, especially Fang.

Brigid's eyes narrowed, and she was about to speak, but I interrupted her.

"You've flirted with my boyfriend, bragged about your stupid college degree, and I saw you fraternizing with Mr. Chu. I don't trust you. I don't even like you, and you consider yourself a part of my family? Are you nuts?!"

The rest of the flock turned away from her to hide their smiles.

"And speaking of Fang, _my _boyfriend. What would he see in you? Don't you need like, a _license _to be that ugly?"

The flock all burst out laughing, even Fang. In fact, he looked like he was laughing the hardest. Her face turned blood red with anger, and she stalked out.

I leaned back against my pillows. "I have been waiting to say that for a long time."

The flock all laughed again.

My mom knew better than to fuss at me, so all she said was, "Okay." My mom said, trying desperately to hold back a smile, and clapping her hands to get everyone's attention. "Max needs her rest if we want her to get better. Let's go."

They all groaned.

"Come on! Let's go! She's not going to mystically disappear." Mom ushered them all out of the room.

"How come Fang gets to stay?" Angel asked, crossing her arms across her chest.

My mom was about to answer, when I answered for her. "Because Fang has to explain what happened to me. Because of you guys barging in, I still don't know."

Angel huffed and walked out the door, everyone else following behind her.

"Try to get some sleep Max." my mom glanced back at me before walking out of the room.

"I will." I promised her.

She walked out and I immediately looked at Fang. "Now, explain to me what happened."

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**Let's see if anyone can guess what's wrong with Max before I post up the next chapter!**


	17. Chapter 16

**Hola! Sorry I hadn't updated yesterday. I was REALLY busy. Anyway, congratulations to Tiarocks55555 to guessing what was wrong with Max. And I know some of you are probably going to just flip to the review page to see what was wrong with her. All you have to do is read. Trust me, I didn't stall telling you what was wrong with her in this chapter. It's right at the begining.**

**Disclaimer: I** **do not own - Well, you get the idea.**

**R&R?!**

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Max POV:

_(Previously:)_

_"Try to get some sleep Max." my mom glanced back at me before walking out of the room._

_"I will." I promised her._

_She walked out and I immediately looked at Fang. "Now, explain to me what happened."_

"Well, I only know what your mom told me. And she's not even sure. It's just a theory." Fang told me.

"I still wanna know Fang." I told him.

He turned so he was leaning against the headboard next to me. "Let me guess, you were dizzy?"

I looked at him, puzzled. "Yeah, but what does that have to do with –"

"Just hear me out." He interrupted. "Dizziness, maybe a headache, nausea, maybe a pain or tightening around your chest area near your heart?"

"How did you know that?" I asked.

"Max, all of the symptoms you have are the symptoms of someone who just had a major heart attack." He said.

I was silent. "So, I had a heart attack?"

"Technically, yes."

"But aren't I too young to have a heart attack?"

"That's what I thought. I asked your mom about it, and she said that even though it is _very_ rare, it is possible. She told me about a case about a newborn baby having a heart attack."

We were both quiet for a few minutes while I digested the information.

"It's this chip." I muttered, pointing at my heart. "That's what's doing this."

"You were right. You need to get that chip out before it kills you." He said, thoughtfully.

"But how would we do that?"

He didn't answer. He just sort of shifted awkwardly in his spot on my bed.

"Fang?"

"Well, there is one thing we could do, but I'm not sure how open you would be to the suggestion."

"Just tell me."

"Keep in mind it's just a suggestion, but it is one of the best and only options we have."

"I swear to God, if you don't just hurry up and tell me…"

He smiled. "We could try surgery."

"Surgery… As in _surgery, _surgery? As in me, lying on the operating table, under the knife, waiting for someone to cut me open? I don't think so."

"Max, it's the only way we can get the chip out. Besides, for most of it, you would be unconscious. All they would have to do would be to go in, take out the chip and you'll be okay again. You could fly again."

I was starting to warm up to the idea.

_**This is not a good idea, Maximum.**_ Said the voice.

And now, I was _really _starting to like this idea.

_**Max, taking out that chip will only make things worse.**_

_How so?_

Fang looked at me questioningly. _The Voice, _I mouthed, and he nodded understandingly.

_**You were right about your getting out of there a little too easily. I'm not exactly sure what it is, but something will happen when you remove the chip. Something dangerous, and deadly to you. I believe that removing the chip will insert a poison into your bloodstream. It is curable, but they are no doubt the only ones who have the cure. It will be a slow and painful death for you. And if it spreads airborne, it will also be the death of the flock, and everyone else. Because of this, I'm guessing that they want something from you. That's why they inserted the chip.**_

_What do they want? _I asked, not expecting the Voice to reply. But to my shock, it did.

_**I'm not absolutely sure. It could be anything. They still want you to stop your work with the CSM, and that includes your saving the world.**_

_So?_

_**So, think about it. They might've finally realized that holding you or the others hostage will not stop the workings of the CSM.**_

_That's supposed to mean something to me? It just shows them that they'll never be able to stop the CSM. How is this a bad thing._

_**Think about it Maximum. Piece all of the information together.**_

_Okay. Let's see. One, they want to stop the CSM. How they'd do that is what I'm trying to figure out. Two, they put the chip in me, which gives me an electric shock every time I try to fly. If I take it out, something "dangerous and deadly" will happen, no doubt a poison inserted into my bloodstream that could and probably will kill me and the flock. Am I right so far?_

_**Go on…**_

_They want me to stop the CSM, but they let me escape a little too easily. It would be easier for them to get control of all of us while we're together in one place. Most of the CSM, two different flocks, and one of the world's most richest men. If we take out the chip, it could kill us all._

_**Keep going…**_

_So, either keep the chip in and I won't be able to fly and keep having theses heart attacks until I die, or take the chip out and we all die slow, painful deaths._

_**And…**_

_They are the only ones who have the cure so… The only way they would give us the cure is if we stop our work with the CSM, and if we don't stop our work and I keep the chip in, I'll die sooner or later. If I take the chip out, we'll all die._

_**Bingo, Max.**_

I cursed out loud, and smacked my hand to my forehead.

He looked at me with an amused expression on his face. "The Voice say anything useful?"

I looked at him with a sad expression on my face. He frowned. "What'd it say?"

I shook my head. "Go get the flock, and mom and Ella and the dogs. Jeb too. I need to tell all of you at once."

He nodded and stood up, heading to the door. He stopped, right before he was about to walk out. "What's it about?"

"I figured out why it was so easy for me to get out of there."

He studied me for a few seconds, and then left out the door to go get the flock.

…

I was _so_ screwed.

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**Poor Max. :( She is definately screwed. First Fang's "death sentence," then being captured, not being able to fly, and having a heart attack, and now this! *Tears up* I feel so bad for doing this for doing this to her... *sniff* Oh, well.**

**R&R?**


	18. Chapter 17

**Okay, I just want to say, please don't hate me at the end of this chapter. I hate myself enough for ending this chapter the way I did. :( R&R**

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Chapter 17:

Max POV:

When everyone was all settled in my room, I told them about my conversation with The Voice. "So, basically," I finished, "For them, it's a win-win-win situation. Either, I die, we all die, or we stop our work with the CSM. For us, we lose in any decision we make."

Everyone was quiet, not daring to move. Ella was crying into Iggy's shoulder, where they sat on a chair in the corner of the room. Nudge and Angel were sitting on my bed with me, crying softly, and Angel had her head in my lap. Gazzy was sitting on the floor next to the dogs. All of them had tears in their eyes. Jeb was standing in the doorway. His eyes sad, but I could tell his brain was churning, trying to find some way out of this. My mom was standing a little ways in front of him, trying hard not to cry. Fang was –

_Slam!_

Fang slammed the door open, making it hit the opposite wall, and the force of it knocked a picture frame off the wall, which broke as it hit the ground. He walked out of the room with an angry/pissed expression on his face. I put my hand over my mouth, trying hard not to cry. It was quiet.

I gently moved Angel off of my lap.

I kicked my legs out of my bed, and shakily stood up, everyone's eyes on me. I walked towards the door slowly, and pushed past Jeb. "I need to go talk to him."

No one stopped me.

I walked slowly to his room. The only reason I knew this was where he was is because Ii heard his door slam. _Hard._

I pushed open his door, and his room was empty, but the sliding door to the balcony was hanging open. I pushed the door to his room closed, locked it, and climbed through the balcony door, and he was standing there, at the railing, looking out into the night sky. His arms were gripping the railing tightly. And he was leaning on his arms, as if he was about to jump off the balcony.

I watched him for a few seconds, but he didn't move an inch. I walked over to him, and wrapped my arms around his waist. He tensed up for a second, but relaxed when he realized it was me. I ducked under his arm so I was standing in front of him. He looked down at me, and raised an eyebrow at me, daring me to try to say something that could comfort him

I ignored his looks and wrapped my arms around his waist again, burying my face in his black shirt.

He sighed, and wrapped his arms around me, pulling me to him. He kissed the top of my head. "We'll find a way out of this Max. We'll find a way out of everything. We always do."

"What do you mean everything?" I said, my voice trailing off, as what he said sunk in. Two members of the flock have had sort of a "death sentence" so far. Could there be someone else who's next?

"You know what I mean. Besides, we'll get the chip and nothing's going to happen to any of us." He said, pulling me closer to him.

This was the part I'd been dreading.

"Fang, I'm leaving the chip in."

I felt him stiffen against me. "No, you're not Max. You are not leaving that chip in."

"Yes, I am Fang. That's the only option we have. We can't stop working for the CSM, and they can't stop working just because of us. And I will not let everyone die because of my behalf. I mean –"

"Max, stop. Right now." Fang said, pulling away from me, and standing back to look at me. I crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him. He glared right back at me. "That chip is not staying in you."

"Yes, it is."

"No, it's not."

"_Yes_, it is."

"_No, _it isn't."

"It is."

"It isn't."

"Is."

"Isn't."

I sighed. I wasn't going to get through to him. "Whether you like it or not, you can't make me have that surgery Fang."

"I can. Even if I have to knock you out for it myself. Whether _you_ like it or not, you are having that surgery Max."

"Fang, I'm not taking that risk. I will not let everyone die because of me. If I die, you have to watch over the flock. I am _not ever_ going to let them or anyone die on my account, and I will not let my mission to "save the world" be in vain."

That was when all his anger came rushing out.

"Damn it Max! How stupid can you possibly be!? Do you realize how selfish you're being?! It's not just about you Max! You have to think about the needs of the rest of the flock too! What about your mom?! And Ella?!"

"The flock, my mom, _and _Ella are all in my best interest! That's why I'm leaving that chip in! To protect them! If that chip releases that poison and it gets airborne, you could all die!" I screamed at him, knowing that if everyone else was still in my room, they could probably hear us. Honestly, I didn't care.

"Just leaving that chip in is like killing yourself Max!"

"I don't care! It's better me than everyone else!"

"You just don't get it do you! By leaving that chip in, you're just making everything worse! Just like you said a long time ago, "Us is all six." We can't be the flock without everyone Max! What the hell don't you get about that?!" he yelled at me.

"I do get that Fang! But if it's me or everyone, I'd choose me every single time! I'd rather just me die than all of us!"

"We'll stop our work for the CSM then, Max! You are not leaving that chip in!"

"We can't stop our work for the CSM! That's just giving the School, Itex, Mr. Chu, and everyone else who hates us what they want! We can't do that! The only way that all of you can stay alive and we can still work for the CSM is if I leave that chip in!" I screamed.

"There has to be another way Max! You can't just leave the chip in! You're just killing yourself by doing that! We can't live without you! We aren't the flock without you Max! Why aren't you getting that!?"

"I do get that Fang!"

"Well obviously you don't!" he yelled, throwing up his hands in frustration.

"I do get it! I understand that! But you guys can live without me! I don't contribute to helping you live!"

"That's where you're wrong! You do contribute to our lives Max! Without you, where do you think we'd be?! Still on the streets probably!"

"That's not true! You guys would be fine. You all are already fine! Why the hell are you making such a big deal out of this?!"

"Because I am, Max! You've done a lot of stupid things Max, but this has to be one of the stupidest! You think that doing this you'll make everything better, but you won't! Think about your mom and Ella! They'll be crushed because of this, especially if you die from it! Think of Angel, who's your little girl! Gazzy and Iggy, your Pyromaniac's! Nudge, your fashion diva! Think about me! DON'T YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN TO _ALL OF US _IF YOU DO SOMETHING SO _STUPID!_?!"

"I'VE MADE MY DECISION FOR WHAT I THINK IS BEST FOR THE FLOCK, AND NOTHING YOU SAY WILL CHANGE MY MIND!! THIS IS THE ONLY WAY FANG, AND YOU KNOW THAT! YOU'RE TOO DAMN STUBBORN TO ADMIT IT!!"

We were both silent for a few seconds, both trying to calm down. Fang took a shaky breath, and I thought he was going to start yelling at me again. But I was wrong. He was quiet when he spoke again, but he was shaking, and I could literally see the anger rolling off of him. "There are other ways Max. We just have to figure out what they are."

I shook my head. "There are no other choices." I nearly whispered.

He closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. When he spoke again, his voice was still soft, but it had turned threatening. "Max, you're making the biggest mistake of your life. You're just going to make everything worse. You're killing yourself by doing this."

"I have to do this Fang. It's the only thing I can do."

His jaw clenched, and he whipped out his wings, heading to the edge of the balcony. Without looking at me, he said, "Then you can find yourself a new best friend. Because you can't make me be there when you destroy yourself."

He flew off, leaving me staring after him in shock, frustration, and pain.

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***sniff* Okay, I'm good. I** **really almost started to cry while writing this. Don't worry, this is definately not the last chapter, and I will update as soon as possible. Maybe even tonight if I finish the next chapter. Please don't hate me for this! R&R?**


	19. Chapter 18

**Okay, I know for a fact that this isn't one of my best chapters, but I had to put some more sad stuff in nthere before it starts getting better. I will try to update today, but if I can't I'll try to update tomorrow, since my school has a THREE DAY WEEKEND!!!! WOOHOO!!!! And my hometown team, the New Orleans Saints, are playin in the playoffs tomorrow! So, that's a plus. (even though I think they'll lose...)**

**But, on a darker side, I'm not sure if I will be able to update because I just had two deaths in the family. My uncle Wilbur, and my pawpaw John just passed away, and my uncle Abel had a stroke, and he's not going to make it, so if I don't update, you guys know why. If it's not too much, please keep my family in your prayers to whomever God/god/ goddess. (didn't wanna be offensive to anybody. :)**

**Disclaimer: You know all of this. Kinda pointless to keep putting it up over and over again.**

**R&R?!**

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Chapter 18:

_Previously:_

_Max POV:  
__His jaw clenched, and he whipped out his wings, heading to the edge of the balcony. Without looking at me, he said, "Then you can find yourself a new best friend. Because you can't make me be there when you destroy yourself."_

He flew off, leaving me staring after him in shock, frustration, and pain.

Fang POV:

I flew for about an hour until I found a tree comfortable enough to sit in and think.

Yeah, yeah, I know what all of you are thinking. You shouldn't have left her, you shouldn't have over-reacted, how the hell could you say that to the one you _love?! _Yada yada yada. At this point, I honestly don't care.

I am not at fault here. _At all._ I -

Why am I explaining this to you? Since when have I cared about what other people think?

Max was just so freakin _stubborn_! If she wanted to leave that chip in her and kill herself, fine. She can be that way, but I am not going to be around to watch her die.

Okay, to set the record straight, I am _not _leaving the flock. I promised Max I wouldn't ever do that again, and I couldn't do that to the younger kids, or Dr. Martinez and Ella. That would just make things a lot worse than they already are.

I just needed some time to think. Try to come up with a plan to stop Max from doing this. But what could I do?

If anyone can think of anything, feel free to give me a shoutout.

I sighed, and rested my head back against the tree.

Life sucked.

Max POV:

Fang left.

_Again._

I watched him fly away until he was too far away to see anymore.

I dropped to my knees on the balcony in shock, staring in the direction he had gone. _New _best friend? Watch me destroy myself?

"Max?!" I didn't turn as I heard the door to Fang's room swing open. Someone had obviously picked the lock.

Angel rushed to me and threw her arms around my neck, sobbing uncontrollably, and Nudge soon followed suit with Gazzy close behind her. Iggy stood leaning against the door frame of the balcony with Ella, and I could vaguely see mom, Jeb and the dogs standing at the door to _his _room. I patted their backs absently, staring of into space. He couldn't have left me. Not again.

"For good?" I asked Angel. She knew what I meant.

She shook her head. "He just needed some time to think. He's not gone for good."

I could hear everyone let out deep breaths, including me.

"But he wasn't lying about what he said to you." she whispered, her voice thick with tears.

"I know." I whispered back so softly, I'm not sure they all heard me. "But I'm doing what I think is right."

Iggy shook his head, obviously having heard me. "You're wrong Max. In your point of view, you may be right, but in ours," he gestured to everyone else, "you're wrong. What Fang was trying to say was that you say your trying to save the flock from destruction, along with the entire world, but doing this to yourself will only make it all worse. You're just killing us by doing this. You're doing the exact opposite of what you meant to do. We need you Max, whether you think we do or not."

Ella sobbed loudly, and put her hands over her mouth to quiet herself. Iggy pressed her face into his shoulder, holding her close.

Like Fang used to do to me.

I felt a tear slide down my face, but that's all. I was too numb to do more than that.

"Fang was right Max." Nudge said, adding to Iggys little speech. "You said that we can just take over afterwards, but you're wrong. _You _are supposed to save the world. Not Iggy, not Fang, not anyone else. _YOU!_ By doing this you're not just destroying us. You're destroying the world."

I pushed the three of them off gently, and pushed past Iggy and Ella, and past mom and Jeb. I stopped at the door to my room and said loud enough for them to all hear. "What I do with my life is my business. Not yours." I opened my door, walked in my room, and slammed the door shut.

Iggy POV:

"What I do with my life is my business. Not yours." I heard Max say, and heard the door slam shut.

I stroked Ella's hair, trying to get her to stop crying. I heard Nudge and Angel crying on the ground somewhere to my right. I didn't hear Gazzy, but I could tell he was close.

So, as you can tell, the leader is finally ready to be sent to the lollipop factory, the second in command is _nowhere _to be found, and that means I, the blind guy, who was the only one in control at this point, was in charge.

Terrific.

I had to take control, and get everyone to calm down. "Alright guys. It's late. Even though no one's going to get any sleep, let's at least try to. Okay?"

I heard two "fines" and a "whatever" from Gazzy. I heard them all stand up, Angel and Nudge still crying, and walk off to their rooms, along with the dogs, Dr. Martinez, and Jeb.

"Come on, Ella." I put my arm around her waist and led her forward. "Meet me in my room. I'm gonna go talk to Max."

She nodded, and walked off to my room, opening and closing the door quietly.

I walked over to where I knew Max's room was. I opened the door, not knocking. "Max?"

I heard her light footsteps come and stop in front of me. "What happened now?"

"Max, I'm not stupid." I said, getting straight to the point, not bothering to sugar-coat it. "And I know you're not either. You are _not_ doing the right thing here."

"What am I supposed to do Ig?" she asked softly. "There are no other options."

"Yes, there are. We just need to figure out what they are."

"I'm doing this Iggy. He couldn't stop me, so I don't know why you think _you _can." She said, her voice breaking. I could tell what Fang said to her hit hard. Really hard. The one person she loved and trusted most in the world, the one person who she'd known for all of her life, the one person she'd walk through fire to get to, hurt her more than any Eraser or whitecoat ever could.

I reached out and pulled her close to me in a hug. She tensed up but then quickly relaxed. She immediately started sobbing, holding onto my shirt. Though I knew for a fact it wasn't _my _shirt she wanted to hold on to. "Shh, Max. Shh..."

"I don't know what to do Ig." she said between her sobs, and I had a feeling that she wasn't talking about the chip. "I don't know how either of us is ever going to get over this." She sounded heartbroken. She no doubt was.

"Max, I don't know how I can help you with this. I can try to talk to him when he gets back if you want, but I'm not sure how much good that'll do."

"You don't get it Ig!" She told me, her voice muffled against my shirt. I was definitely suprised she was showing that much emotion. Especially in front of me. Her rare melt-downs were usually reserved for Fang and Fang only.

I pulled her over to her bed, and made her sit down, still letting her cry into my shirt. "What do you mean?" I asked her, though I already knew.

She let out a giant sob. "He was the one, Ig! And he left me. He left me _again!_ I loved him!"

My sightless eyes widened a bit. _That_ was unexpected. I mean, I knew she loved him, I just never thought she'd admit it out loud. Especially to me. "I'll talk to him as soon as he gets back Max. I'm sure he didn't mean what he said. At least, not all of it. Just give him some time to cool down."

"It's over between me and Fang, Ig. There's nothing you could do."

"Max, believe it or not, Fang still loves you more than you realize." I told her.

"No he doesn't." she said brokenly. "He wouldn't have said those things to me if he did."

"Max, he was angry. Think about it. If the love of your life came up to you and told you that he was going to die so that you and everyone else wouldn't, you would have probably had the same reaction as he had. If he didn't love you, he wouldn't have cared if you'd live or die."

"Iggy, _Fang _is usually the only one I can break down in front of. _Fang _is the only one who can put me back together again when I've fallen apart. _Fang _is the only one I trust as much as I trust myself. And after what _Fang,_ my so called soul mate, said to me..." her voice trailed off.

"I get it, Max. I get it." I said.

I stayed with her for about ten, maybe fifteen more minutes, until she fell asleep.

I sighed, having heard Fang fly back into his room five minutes ago.

Fang was right in their conversation of course, but he went about it the wrong way.

And I was going to give him hell for it.

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**Please review! I know it kinda sucks, but the next chapter will be better, I promise.**


	20. Chapter 19

**Okay everyone. I thought I'd just be nice and post this chapter just I wouldn't leave you guys hanging. This chapter contains some Eggy, and is set in Iggy's POV.**

**I wanna give a quick shout out to Taylor N 12: Thanks for your prayer, and you don't have to worry about offending me. I am a strong Catholic, raised by two Catholic parents, four Catholic grandparents, and go to a Catholic school, so you don't have to worry about offending me. My religion is with God the father, son and holy spirit. Three persons in one God. All awesome. :)**

**Thanks to all of my reviewers! Let's try to get to fifty!**

**R&R**

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Chapter 19:

Iggy POV:

I stalked off to Fang's room, my rage boiling in me. I knew for a fact that in Max and Fang's argument, Fang was right, even though Max's stupid pride wouldn't let her admit it.

I wasn't really listening too closely, so when I walked into Fang's room, you can imagine my shock and surprise when I heard two people making out.

I slammed the door open, ready to yell, when I stopped in the doorway, my mind finally processing what I had been hearing.

I crossed my arms, and said, "Boy, you bounce back fast."

Somone rushed past me with an "Excuse me." Whoever it was managed to brush up against me, so I figured out who it was.

_Melissa._

Max was going to be _pissed._

I walked in the room fully, and slammed the door, locking it. "Care to explain?"

I heard him stand up from where he had apparently been sitting on his bed. "Not that it's any of your business, but I was in here, and she came in and we started talking a little and the she told me that Dylan broke up with her with "reasons unknown," but apparently she thinks it's Max. Then she kissed me, which was when you walked in."

"And somehow I don't believe you... Strange, isn't it?"

"I don't care if you believe it or not. It's the truth." he said.

_He's telling the truth Iggy._ said Angel. She sent me the image of Melissa jumping at Fang and pushing him onto the bed and kissing him, then, I walked in. She had obviously gotten the image from Fang's head.

_**Thanks, Angel. But stay out of my head please.**_

I felt her leave, and I turned to Fang. "I believe you."

"Angel?" he asked.

I nodded.

He sighed. "Saved by the six year old." he muttered.

"You're still at fault you know." I told him crossing my arms over my chest.

"How so?"

"You were right that whole time you were talking to Max. She's stupid for leaving the chip in and it will no doubt make everything worse."

"So how am I at fault?" he asked slowly.

"You know as well as I do that Max is more stubborn than the entire flock combined."

"So?"

I rolled my eyes. "_So, _yelling at her won't do any good. I thought you would've learned that by now."

"I do know that. But like I said a few days ago, put yourself in my position, and Max in Ella's. You would have probably reacted the same way as I had."

"No, if that was me, it would've been much worse. But that's not the point. You screwed up Fang. _Big _time."

"Don't you think I know that!" he yelled. I could hear him pacing back and forth in front of me, and I oculd picture him running his hand through his hair. "I know I screwed up! I'm not stupid! But what else am I supposed to do if she's literally killing herself."

"Fang," I said quietly, "has it ever occured to you that she may be doing this because of the vision that Angel had? You guys have said countless times that you couldn't live without one another. Maybe she really can't live without you. And I think we both know you would probably do the same thing for her."

"If she died I would soon find a way to follow." I heard him mutter quietly, mostly to himself. "That can't be it."

"Yes, it can, and it is. Well, it's at least part of it. Believe it or not Fang, Max still loves you, whether you _or her _think so or not. _Why _she likes you continues to be a mystery to me, but it's her choice. Not mine. And she's still my sister Fang, and if you hurt her, I hurt you." I felt my "big brother instincts" come out and without waiting for him to catch on, I swung back my arm and punched him in the face. _Hard._

He cursed. "I should've seen that coming." he muttered.

"Yeah, you should've. Hurt her again, and next time, it'll be worse." I turned around and walked out, heading to my room, and not glancing back.

I walked to my room and opened the door quietly. I had almost forgotten about Ella! _Almost._

"Ella?" I asked, stepping into my room, and shutting the door behind me.

"Hm?" I heard a sleepy voice answer.

"You alright?" I asked, walking over to I heard her voice. I sat on my bed next to her, and I felt her move over and rest her head on my chest, and tightly gripping my shirt.

"No." she muttered, her voice messed up because her face was pressed up against my chest. "I had fallen asleep and was having a nightmare until you woke me up."

"What was it about?" I asked her, my hand running up and down her arm.

"Everything." she said yawning. "That fact that I'm super tired doesn't help either."

I chuckled softly, and in about five minutes, she was asleep again.

As I fell asleep myself, I couldn't help but think, if Max and Fang got along as well as Ella and I did, they wouldn't have these problems.

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**There's some Eggy for anyone who wanted it. Hope you liked it! It was just so I didn't leave you with a cliff hanger about Iggy being all mad and ready to beat up Fang. I know some of you are probably mad at me for making Melissa and Fang kiss, so let me make this very clear:**

***clears throat***

**_MELISSA_ KISSED FANG, FANG _DID NOT_ KISS HER AND _DID NOT WANT_ TO KISS HER.**

**R&R?!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Here's the next chapter! It took me a while to figure out what to do in the story next, but I think a lot of you Dylan haters out there will like it. :) Oh, and thanks for all the prayers for my family. Hope everyone likes this chapter. R&R!**

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Chapter 20:

Max POV:

I woke up at around midday the next morning to Nudge, Kevin, Samantha, and Iggy slamming the door to my room open in a panic. "Max! Max! Get up Max! You have to get up _now_!" Nudge ran over to where I was and shook me. "Get up!"

I sat up. "What? What's wrong?" I asked groggily.

"Dylan and Fang got in a fight, and none of us can break them apart." Iggy said quickly.

"Come on! You need to stop them before they kill each other!" Kevin said as Nudge pulled me out of my bed, and dragged me to wherever the two guys were fighting, which was apparently in the front yard.

"Can't Angel or Cody just make them come apart?!" I asked Nudge.

"Dylan and Fang have their minds blocked!"

I heard the yelling before I saw them. I ran out the door, closely followed by the others, and saw the two guys in the middle of a group of people, both trying to get the better of the other. The rest of the two flocks and mom, Jeb, and Ella were all yelling at them to stop, but none of them dared to get close enough to do anything. Probably afraid they would get hurt.

I pushed past the group of people, and into the fight with the two guys.

"Stop!" I yelled at the two of them, getting in the middle of them, and pushing them apart.

They just came back at each other, throwing punches, and kicks, yelling insults and curses at each other.

"Stop it! Right now!" I screamed. "Iggy!" I screamed at him to help me.

Iggy pushed his way through the crowd, and got in the middle of them with me, him facing Dylan, me facing Fang. The two of them came at each other again, trying to reach past Iggy and me to get at each other.

"On the count of three," which meant on the count of one, "push them back as hard as you can!" I yelled out to Iggy. "One –"

I pushed Fang and Iggy pushed Dylan, and they backed up a few feet.

"Samantha! Melissa! Hold back Dylan!" I yelled at them.

The two girls pushed their way through the crowd and each grabbed one of Dylan's arms, trying to hold him back, as he struggled to get away from them. Iggy ran to me, and helped me pull Fang away from Dylan.

"Everyone! Into the house! _NOW!_" I yelled, after the two guys seemed to have calmed down a bit.

Iggy and I pulled Fang into the house after the rest of the two flocks and everyone else had gone in already. Then after us, Samantha and Melissa dragged Dylan in.

Then the fighting started up again.

Apparently, Melissa and Samantha had accidentally loosened their grips, and Dylan realized this. He ran forward, and sent a roundhouse kick at Fang's back. Fang fell forward, flipped over, and kicked Dylan's legs out from under him, making him fall to the ground.

Melissa and Samantha dragged Dylan back roughly, and Iggy and I grabbed Fang again, dragging him backwards towards the stairs.

"Bring Dylan into the kitchen." I ordered Samantha and Melissa.

They nodded and dragged him in there, where everyone else was waiting.

Fang had stopped struggling, and was standing there breathing hard. "Meet me in my room." I told him. "We need to talk."

I let him go, and walked into the kitchen where everyone else was waiting.

I vaguely heard Fang walk up the stairs to my room, and Iggy entered the kitchen a few seconds later.

Dylan was sitting at the kitchen table, and I finally got a good look at how bad he was beaten up. He had scratches all over him, his nose was bloody and looked broken. He had a black eye, and apparently, his arm had been pulled out of socket.

It was silent, and I could feel everyone's eyes on me as I walked to the cabinet under the kitchen sink, and got out the first aid kit. I walked back over to Dylan, and set the kit on the table, and started cleaning the scratches on his face, and setting his nose so it wouldn't heal wrong. I finished with his face, and when he wasn't paying attention, I popped his arm back into socket.

"Ow!" he said, rubbing his arm.

Everyone else flinched.

"You deserve it." I told him, closing the first aid kit. "You outta be ashamed of yourself. If you were looking to gain my respect, after this, you don't have a chance."

He flinched under my glare, and I picked up the kit, and walked up the stairs with it.

When I opened the door to my room, Fang was leaning against the wall, looking out the window. I closed the door quietly, and he didn't acknowledge that I had come in.

"Sit down." I told him quietly, pointing at my bed.

He glanced at me, not meeting my eyes, and walked over and sat at the edge of my bed.

Looking at Fang, I realized that Dylan got the worst of the fight. Fang had a few bruises here and there, and a black eye, but the worst thing he had was a broken hand, apparently from punching Dylan too hard. Dylan's kick might've done some damage so I would have to check that out too.

I sighed, and walked up to him, grabbing his chin and making him look at me. I dabbed at his black eye carefully. "You wanna tell me what happened?"

He didn't say anything.

I sighed again. "Either you tell me, or I'll go ask Dylan."

His eyes narrowed. "He'd probably twist the whole story around to make me look like the bad guy."

"Then tell me what _really_ happened." I said, grabbing his broken hand and slowly wrapping it up in bandages.

"We passed each other in the hallway, and we bumped into each other." He said.

I stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "That can't be all."

"Some things were said…" he said slowly.

"Like what?" I asked, finishing with his hand.

I moved closer to him, and reached for his shirt. He pulled away.

I rolled my eyes. "Stop being stubborn. I need to make sure your wings are okay. He kicked you pretty hard, and I wanna make sure nothing's broken."

He relaxed a bit, and winced as I helped him take off his shirt, which was when I noticed how bloody it seemed to be.

My eyes widened as I saw the long, bleeding scar running down his chest. My jaw clenched and he looked down, avoiding my glare. "How…"

"He had a pocket-knife, but I kicked it away before he could do any real damage." Fang muttered.

I closed my eyes, and let out a shaky breath, trying to control myself.

I opened my eyes again. "What were you two fighting about?" I asked him, examining his wings, which were a little bruised, but overall okay. I gently pushed him down by his shoulder so I could easily clean the wound on his muscled chest.

I walked to the bathroom connected to my room, and wet a small face towel. I walked back over to him, sat on the bed, and dabbed at the scar while he started talking.

"When we bumped into each other, he got really mad because he thought it was my fault. We started fighting and right before I thought he was about to punch me, he said, 'I heard about what happened between you and Max.' I rolled my eyes at him and walked away, which he obviously didn't like, so then he said…" Fang's voice trailed off.

"He said… what?" I asked as I bandaged his chest.

He shook his head. "Nothing. It doesn't matter."

"Yes, it does. Tell me what he said."

He closed his eyes, and sighed. "He said… 'I guess that's a good thing then, because she needs to be laid by a real man, like me.' I don't think he realized what he said until he said it. I spun around and punched him, and the next thing I knew, we were in the front yard, and you and Ig were pulling us apart."

I finished bandaging his chest and closed my eyes. "Fang…"

"I'm not lying to you Max, if that's what you're thinking." He sat up and crossed his arms over his chest.

I shook my head. "Fang… You are _such_ a moron." I pinched the bridge of my nose in frustration. "If you would have thought things through, you would've realized that the only reason he did that was to get under your skin. He was just looking for a reason to fight you, and you started it, so technically, you are partly at fault."

"He started it." He muttered.

"Fang, you sound like a six year old. I really couldn't care who started it. _You_ were the one who went along with the bait. I admit, that if Dylan hadn't said that, you probably wouldn't have punched him, but next time," I stood up, "just try to control your anger better."

I walked towards the door, and opened it.

"Max?" he asked.

I turned around and looked at him.

"I thought about what you said yesterday about if you leave the chip in the rest of the flock won't die, and I had a thought."

I rolled my eyes. "I don't care what you have to say Fang. You won't change my mind."

He got a wicked glint in his eye. "I beg to differ. No matter how much you're mad at me, you still care about me, and you know that as well as I do. When we first talked about Angel's vision, you said that you wouldn't let anything happen to me, and that you wouldn't let me die."

"And?"

"How are you going to do that with that chip in you Max? You can't fly, you had a heart attack, and this thing is literally killing you. How are you supposed to "help me" if you're dead?" He raised an eyebrow triumphantly.

My jaw dropped. I hadn't thought of that.

I cursed. "I hate you."

He smiled. "I know."

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**That chapter was for all the Dylan haters! If you liked Dylan, well, that sucks for you, cuz I hate him. Anyway...**

**Review!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Here's the next chapter! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, family stuff and school are killing me... **

**Shout-outs!!!!: Iggy4ever - *Returns over dramatic high five* Thanks for your prayers! They mean a lot to me. :D**

**Review!**

* * *

Chapter 21:

Max POV:

_(Previously:)_

_I cursed. "I hate you."_

_He smiled. "I know."_

I stared at Fang, trying to think of something to say back at him.

You know that feeling when something finally clicks into your head that you've been trying to think of for a very long time? Kind of like a light bulb turning on?

Yeah, it's an awesome feeling.

"But," I told him, "it all pretty much depends on how you're "supposed" to die."

"What do you mean?" he asked carefully.

"What I mean is that the School would probably try to kill you because of me, and if I'm dead, they have no reason to kill you." I crossed my arms over my chest triumphantly.

He stared at me for a few seconds. "But, if you take the chip out, then there is the big chance that we could _all _live." He said quietly.

We were both quiet for a while, just staring at each other.

Since it was just the two of us, Fang seemed a little less guarded than usual. I could literally see the pain and desperation in his eyes. And at that point I knew that doing this, that leaving the chip in was worse than anything else I could do.

"Max," he whispered softly, "there has to be another way. Don't do this."

"What else am I supposed to do?" I whispered almost as quietly.

He could tell I was weakening. "I don't know, but I know we can figure something else out. Don't do this, Max. Everything that I said to you was a lie. I love you Max, and I honestly think what you're doing is stupid, but the only reason I said those things was because I care about you, and I don't want you to hurt yourself by doing this."

I bit my lip, and looked away, and the next thing I knew, he was in front of me. He put two fingers under my chin and lifted my face up to look at him. We were so close, our noses were almost touching.

"Please, Max. Anything but this." He breathed into my face.

I closed my eyes, breathing in his smell. I groaned and let my forehead fall onto his chest. "That's not fair, Fang."

I could feel the tension literally melt off of him. He realized that I had given in. He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him, relieved. "We'll figure out another way, Max. I promise you, we will."

And why did I have that awful feeling that somehow he was wrong?

Because this is my life. Remember?

* * *

"Maximum Ride, you out to be ashamed of yourself!"

I rolled my eyes at my mother, who was yelling at me. We were in her room at the mansion and I had gone to tell her that I, strike that, _everyone else,_ wanted me to have the surgery to take the chip out. This was the first time she had actually yelled at me like this, and I had to admit, it was pretty entertaining.

"First you had us all panicking that you were going to leave that chip in and you were going to die for us, and now you want me to do the surgery to _take out_ said chip?!" She yelled out, pacing back and forth in front of me. "Maximum, you are supposed to be a leader for these kids! You need to learn to make up your mind!"

Now, I could tell she wasn't mad at me, or even upset really. I could see that she was actually very relieved, but she wouldn't let it show. Even though she wouldn't admit it, I could tell that she had just gotten to terms with me killing myself to save everyone, and instead, she has to come to terms with the possibility of everyone dying.

She took a deep breath, and looked at me. "Sweetie, I'm sorry I yelled at you, but I'm getting too old for this. I can't handle all of this like you can." She seemed to be breathing hard, and she had her hand over her heart. She was shaking slightly.

I stood up. "Mom, are you alright? You don't look so good."

"Yes, I'm fine, Max." She said slowly, as if questioning herself. She seemed to blink a few times, and take a shaky breath. Her eyes suddenly closed, and she fell forward.

My eyes widened, and I rushed forward and caught her. "Mom!"

She was shaking slightly, like she was cold. "_Help_!" I cried out. "Somebody help! _Please_!"

The door to mom's room swung open, and Fang, John, and Jeb rushed in, closely followed by the flock.

"Someone call nine-one-one!" John yelled out, rushing to my mom's side. She had stopped shaking, but I couldn't tell if she was breathing or not.

I just stared at her, oblivious to the yelling going around me. Distantly, I heard sirens, but I sort of tuned them out. Time seemed to slow down, and my only thought seemed to be, _No, not her. Not my mom. No way. This can't be happening._

I could see the paramedics taking her away, and I could Ella running after her, crying.

"Max?" I felt a hand on my shoulder, and it immediately brought me back to the present. Time sped up, and I was able to form a few coherent thoughts.

I looked up at Fang.

"Let's head over to the hospital Max. Mr. Pierpont has a ride for us." He told me, pulling me up.

The ride to the hospital was a blur. My thoughts were racing around in my head, and I couldn't think straight.

"She's been in there over four hours!" yelled Ella, pacing back and forth in front of us all in the waiting room of the hospital.

"Ella, sit down." John said weakly. "There's no use in pacing around."

"I'll pace if I wanna pace!" she yelled.

"Sit down, Ella. You're giving me a headache bigger than the one I already have." I told her quietly.

Everyone glanced at me. I hadn't said a word ever since I caught mom when she fell.

Ella watched me for a second, and then sat down next to Iggy slowly. I knew why too. All of us could tell that I was like a walking time bomb. One false move and I would no doubt blow up in one of their faces, whether it was their fault or not.

I looked toward the double doors to the ICU where they had taken my mom a few hours ago. I had been staring at the same spot ever since I got into the hospital.

I remembered something that Jeb used to tell us when we were little. "No news, is good news." If she was dead, they would have no doubt told us already, so they must still be trying to save her. Right?

"Are you the Martinez family?"

All of our head swiveled around to meet moms surgeon. Jeb stepped up to him. "Yes, we are. How's Valencia? Is she alright?"

He nodded his head, and we all let out deep relieved breaths.

"Whatever she was doing before she passed out seemed to have triggered her stress levels, which strangely caused her to have a seizure. She's alive, but she's in a coma, and we're not exactly sure when she'll wake up."

I looked down at my hands, and Fang put a comforting hand around my shoulder. "This is all my fault." I muttered to him, as Jeb and John continued to speak with the doctor.

"No, it's not." He muttered back.

I shook my head at him, but didn't reply.

"Come on." He stood up, pulling me with him.

"Where are we going?" I asked as he pulled me toward Jeb.

He said something softly to Jeb that I couldn't hear, and Jeb nodded, and turned back to the doctor.

"Where are we going?" I repeated, as he dragged me out of the hospital.

"Back to the house. Your mom is unconscious right now, and the doctor said she's probably not going to wake up any time soon."

I tried to pull away from him. "I wanna stay here."

He turned to me. "Max, I told Jeb to call us as soon as she wakes up. I know that place is driving you up the walls, and we're not helping anyone by being here either. If she wakes up, I promise you'll be the first one to know."

I looked back at the hospital and nodded to him. He pulled me over to an alleyway, and he took out his wings, picked me up, and we flew back to the house in silence.

* * *

"Here." Fang said. He handed me a cup of steaming hot chocolate, and wrapped a thick blanket around me. We were both in Nino Pierponts living room, and I was gazing dazedly out the window.

"Thanks." I told him.

He sat next to me on the sofa. "She's gonna be okay Max. We all are."

"No, we're not." I said, setting the hot chocolate on the coffee table in front of me. "I can't save all of us all the time. I just have a bad feeling that there's going to be someone I'm not able to save."

"You have always been able to save all of us. Sure, it was never easy, and a lot of us got hurt along the way, but we always made it through."

I shook my head. "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm about ready to give up."

Fang's eyes narrowed. "Since when are you ready to give up?"

"I just… can't take all of this anymore! It's too much! Everything that they're throwing at us I know is connected somehow but I just can't figure out how! And… it's driving me crazy."

"Max…" He reached out to brush his hand against my cheek, but I stood up, and walked away from him.

"I'm going take a shower. Tell me if you hear anything about her." I ran up to my room, and grabbed some clothes, rushing into the bathroom. I turned the hot water on full blast, stripped out of my clothes, and stepped in, letting the steaming water loosen my muscles. It felt amazing going across my back and wings.

I must have stayed in the shower for at least an hour, just letting the water rush over me. I turned it off, stepped out, and walked a few steps to the bathroom cabinet to get a towel. I dried myself and my hair off, and slipped on my sweatpants and a tank top.

I walked out of the bathroom after throwing my clothes in the hamper, and walked out of my room silently. I walked down the stairs and saw Fang, lounging on the couch, absently flipping through the TV channels, though he wasn't really paying attention.

He glanced at me, and held out his arms. I sighed and walked over to him, climbing onto the couch in front of him. I leaned back against him, and he ran his hand up and down my arm.

"You look tired." He said, burying his face in my damp hair.

"I am." I muttered.

"Try to get some sleep. I'll wake you up if I hear anything about your mom."

I nodded, and closed my eyes, drifting off immediately.

* * *

**Please Review! I'm almost finished the next chapter, so I'll post it up... whenever! :D R&R!**


	23. Chapter 22

**On to the next chapter! This chapter contains Fax, (kind of,) and a very angry Max! Both of which are very entertaining!**

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Chapter 22:

Fang POV:

I wrapped my arms around Max and pulled her close to me when she fell asleep and we stayed like that for about an hour. I sighed, and sat up carefully as I distantly heard a car pull up in the driveway. I rested her head in my lap and stroked her hair.

I looked at everyone's solemn faces as they came in, and immediately thought the worst. "Is she…" I asked Iggy quietly, careful not to wake Max. The rest of the flock and Ella walked up the stairs to their rooms sadly.

"No, she's still in a coma. Jeb made all of us come home, but John stayed at the hospital. He'll call us if…" he let his voice trail off.

"Okay." I said, looking down at Max.

"Max?" he asked.

"Sleeping. I'm going to bring her to her room, then we'll talk." I picked Max up carefully, trying not to wake her up. She needed some sleep.

She unconsciously grabbed onto my shirt, and rested her head on my shoulder. I smirked, and silently kicked open her door. I set her on her bed, and put her blanket over her. She looked so peaceful when she was sleeping. Unguarded, and happy. I shook my head, and leaned down and kissed her forehead. She smiled in her sleep. I shook my head again, and walked downstairs into the kitchen to meet Iggy, and no doubt Jeb.

I sat on the counter next to the sink, and asked the two of them, "So, how is she?"

"The surgeon said that for now, she's stable, and she is possibly going to live." Iggy started.

"But…"

"But there's always the chance that something will go wrong. He said and I quote "I've never seen a seizure this bad before." To us it didn't look so bad, but apparently it did a lot of damage. So, I guess it's a good thing Dr. Martinez is in a coma, because she would probably be in a lot of pain." He finished.

I nodded. "What should we tell Max?"

They were both silent, until Jeb answered. "Nothing. We shouldn't tell her anything that will just worry her more than she already is."

"This is her mother we're talking about. I'm pretty sure she deserves to know." Iggy said.

"Yeah, she deserves at least a little comfort in all of this." I added.

Jeb just shook his head. "It doesn't matter."

"You can't keep doing this to her Jeb." I said, shaking my head.

"Doing what?" he asked.

"Hiding all of this from her. It's killing her. And she deserves to know what's going on with her own mother." I told him.

"Max is strong and –"

"I know Max is strong. Believe me; I probably know that better than you do. But she's only one person. And she can only handle so much."

"She's done good so far." He said.

For some reason, that got me angry. "So? Max is fourteen. She deserves to have the chance to be a normal teenager, and actually have a life."

"You will never be able to be normal teenagers, you know that as well as I do."

"And whose fault is that Jeb?! Because it certainly isn't ours. We never asked for this! Jeb, I know you have a hand in this somehow, and I'm telling you: It needs to stop. "

"I can't do anything. None of this is my doing."

I was about to speak again, when Iggy interrupted me. "That's where you're wrong Jeb. All of this is your fault. If it wasn't for you, none of this would have happened to us."

"What happened to all of you was never my idea."

"But you still went along with it, didn't you? Neither of us are stupid Jeb. We know you have something to do with this, and I'm telling you, it's destroying her." I said, crossing my arms over my chest menacingly.

"I don't have anything to do with the School anymore. Especially now that they know I am working for the CSM." He said.

"Yeah, but we know you still have friends at the School. We know you still have connections with some of the people there." Iggy said.

"Everything that you're throwing at Max is destroying her one piece at a time. First taking us all the way to Africa, meeting a new flock whose leader is supposed to be "Max's perfect other half," then Angel gets a new power, and has a vision of me dying, and then Max gets captured, and can't fly anymore and had a heart attack because of that chip in her, and now Dr. Martinez was rushed to the hospital because of a seizure! Why are you doing this to her?! She's your own daughter for God's sake!"

The two of them stared at me. That was probably the longest ting they've ever heard me say.

Jeb shook his head. "It is Max's destiny to –"

"Who cares what her destiny is! To hell with her Itex-given destiny! Max is my best friend, and believe it or not, I care about how she's feeling." I told Jeb.

"Max is my daughter. You think that I don't care about her?" Jeb stood up, his eyes narrowing at me, finally getting angry.

"Well you sure have a funny way of showing it! Max is ready to give up, Jeb. She told me so herself. She's about to crack because she can only take so much. Max is strong, but she's not invincible, even though she may think she is sometimes."

"I –"

"Um, guys?" Iggy interrupted. "Sorry to interrupt your catfight," I rolled my eyes at him. "But this conversation is no longer private." He turned toward the doorway to the kitchen and we followed his gaze.

Max stepped into the doorway with her arms crossed, looking very _very_ angry.

Max POV:

I blinked and sat up after having the weirdest dream about Fang kissing me on the forehead. Sure, I've dreamt about Fang before, but there was something different about this dream. It was so short, but so long at the same time. There's just something… Romantic, about the love of your life kissing you on the forehead. I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I thought it was really sweet.

And now I'm starting to sound like Nudge, babbling on about my jacked up love life.

The last thing I remember was falling asleep on the couch in the living room with Fang, so, where was I? Everything that had happened earlier that day came rushing back to me. Oh, Fang must have put me in my bed.

I sighed.

Fang.

I don't know where we stood at this point. I didn't know if we were friends, if we were a couple, or if we hated each other's guts. First he's yelling at me for leaving the chip in, then he makes me hot chocolate and holds me as I fall asleep.

Raise your hands if you agree with me:

Guys are _so_ confusing.

I pulled myself out of bed, and walked slowly to the door. I walked out and made my way down the stairs, and stopped when I heard voices.

"… Can't keep doing this to her Jeb." I heard Fang's voice say.

"Doing what?" Jeb's voice asked.

"Hiding all of this from her. It's killing her. And she deserves to know what's going on with her own mother." Fang said.

"Max is strong and –"

Fang interrupted Jeb. "I know Max is strong. Believe me; I probably know that better than you do. But she's only one person. And she can only handle so much."

"She's done good so far." Jeb said.

Those morons have a lot of nerve.

Maybe I was the only one, but I could hear Fang's voice get tense. "So? Max is fourteen. She deserves to have the chance to be a normal teenager, and actually have a life."

"You will never be able to be normal teenagers, you know that as well as I do."

"And whose fault is that Jeb?! Because it certainly isn't ours. We never asked for this! Jeb, I know you have a hand in this somehow, and I'm telling you: It needs to stop. "

"I can't do anything. None of this is my doing."

I rolled my eyes. How could he say this wasn't his fault?

Iggy's voice entered the conversation. "That's where you're wrong Jeb. All of this is your fault. If it wasn't for you, none of this would have happened to us."

"What happened to all of you was never my idea."

"But you still went along with it, didn't you? Neither of us are stupid Jeb. We know you have something to do with this, and I'm telling you, it's destroying her." Fang said.

Destroying me? I didn't look that broken up to them, did I?

"I don't have anything to do with the School anymore. Especially now that they know I am working for the CSM." Jeb replied.

"Yeah, but we know you still have friends at the School. We know you still have connections with some of the people there." Iggy said.

"Everything that you're throwing at Max is destroying her one piece at a time. First taking us all the way to Africa, meeting a new flock whose leader is supposed to be "Max's perfect other half," then Angel gets a new power, and has a vision of me dying, and then Max gets captured, and can't fly anymore and had a heart attack because of that chip in her, and now Dr. Martinez was rushed to the hospital because of a seizure! Why are you doing this to her?! She's your own daughter for God's sake!" Fang nearly yelled.

My eyes widened. Fang had never said something as long as that before.

"It is Max's destiny to –"

"Who cares what her destiny is! To hell with her Itex-given destiny! Max is my best friend, and believe it or not, I care about how she's feeling." Fang shot back at Jeb.

"Max is my daughter. You think that I don't care about her?" I heard a chair scrape across the floor as Jeb no doubt stood up.

"Well you sure have a funny way of showing it! Max is ready to give up, Jeb. She told me so herself. She's about to crack because she can only take so much. Max is strong, but she's not invincible, even though she may think she is sometimes." Fang said.

"I –"

"Um, guys?" Iggy interrupted. "Sorry to interrupt your catfight, but this conversation is no longer private."

My eyes widened. Uh, oh.

I sighed mentally. Might as well not even hide it.

I stepped into the kitchen, with my arms folded across my chest.

Those three have a _lot_ of explaining to do.

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**Please review!**


	24. Chapter 23

**Hey guys. Sorry this chapter's so short. I didn't really have too much time to write. I had three huge tests today in my hardest classes, all in a row. No breaks or study halls or anything. Geometry, Civics, and Biology. All honors. So, after the last test was over, I spent the rest of the twenty minutes I had left of school to write this. It's kind of a filler, just so I can give a little explanation on why Max is so mad.**

**Shout out to ZeZe123: I know I didn't really make it too clear why she was so angry, so all will be explained in this chapter. Let's just say, her pride was hurt hearing them talking about her like that. And, for the record, she's mostly mad at Jeb, not Fang. I couldn't let the two of them get into an argument _again._**

**On with the story!**

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Chapter 23:

Max POV:

_(Previously:)_

"_Um, guys?" Iggy interrupted. "Sorry to interrupt your catfight, but this conversation is no longer private."_

_My eyes widened. Uh, oh._

_I sighed mentally. Might as well not even hide it._

_I stepped into the kitchen, with my arms folded across my chest._

_Those three have a lot of explaining to do._

I stared at Jeb, but when I spoke, I spoke to Iggy and Fang. "Iggy? Fang? Leave. I need to have a little conversation with Jeb."

"You don't have to tell me twice." Iggy said, rushing out of the kitchen. But Fang stayed, probably to make sure I didn't have a mental breakdown or do something really stupid that I would probably regret. Or both for that matter.

It wasn't really Fang and Iggy that I was aggravated with, it was Jeb. Everything that has happened to me so far I know he had a hand in it somewhere, and I was sick of it all. It was time to tell him what I really felt about him.

And it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Jeb, you have a lot of nerve." I said to him. "This _is _all your fault whether you want it to be or not. We wouldn't be like we are if it wasn't for you, so how can you say you didn't have anything to do with this? When you rescued us, I really thought of you as a dad Jeb, and then you just vanished in the blink of an eye. We all thought you were dead, and then we find out that you were back with _them._ And now, even though I know you're my biological dad, and you seem to be on our side, I don't think of you as a father anymore. After what you've done to me, and my family, as far as I am concerned you're not even fit to clean the mud of my shoes." I glared at him and he flinched. "You betrayed us. You betrayed _me._ And any time that something horrible happens to my family, you will always be the first one I will blame."

He opened his mouth to interrupt, but I stopped him. "You put yourself in that position Jeb, and nothing you can do or say will change that."

"I know."

"Well, obviously, you don't! Because you keep doing things that will make it worse. How can you hide things from me? Things as important as my mother's health! I don't care if I'm supposed to save the world! All I care about is my family! How can you not understand that?"

"I –"

"MAX!!"

Nudge ran into the kitchen closely followed by Iggy and Angel, who had tears in her eyes.

"What? What's wrong?" I asked them.

"It was her." Nudge managed to say through her hard breathing. "We had a traitor on the inside."

I traded glances with Fang.

"What are you talking about?" Fang asked.

Nudge shook her head and handed me a piece of paper with perfect script handwriting on it.

_Max,_

_I knew that you suspected me all along to be a traitor, but I would've never guessed you would have pieced it together so quickly. I guess you really never know who to trust and who not to trust. I really feel sorry for you Maximum, I really really do. It's not your fault you ended up like this, is it? But I'm sure it was easier to put the blame on others than yourself. Now you know, as I'm sure you have all along, that I am a traitor. However, before I rid myself of you completely, I will give you one little parting piece of information that I'm sure will help shake things up a bit:_

_Someone in the flock is a traitor._

_Brigid Dwyer._

I stared at the note for a long time. I had always known there was a reason that I didn't like Brigid, and not just because she flirted with Fang. So, Dr. Amazing turns out to be not so amazing after all. No surprise there.

But there was one sentence in that note that really bugged me, and I'm pretty sure you know which one it is.

I wordlessly passed the note to Fang, and he scanned over it quickly.

"Where's Gazzy?" I asked.

Nudge and Angel exchanged looks. "We couldn't find him Max, but this was in his room in the middle of the bed." Iggy said, holding up a piece of thick red hair.

"Brigid." I muttered. "I'll kill her."

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**Alright, who was thinking it? I always knew Brigid was a traitor... Poor Gazzy. And is there really a traitor in the flock?**

**Review to find out!**


	25. Chapter 24

**Hi guys! Here's the next chapter! The first part I wanted to put in Gazzy's POV so you know what's happening to him, but it doesn't really reveal too much. Then the rest of it's in Max's POV. All of you will probably hate me after you read this chapter, but oh, well. I promise things will get better....**

**Maybe.**

**Please Review! Let's try to get to 100!!!!!!**

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Chapter 24:

Gazzy POV:

Have you ever had that feeling where you feel like you're being watched?

Like, you're going around, minding your own business, maybe even trying to take a nap or something, and you feel like someone's watching you? But when you look around, no one's there?

Yeah, I hate that feeling.

Especially when I'm ignoring it and I end up being kidnapped by God knows who.

All I remember was looking for something in my closet, ignoring that feeling, and then I felt something prick me on the back of my neck, I got really dizzy, and then I was unconscious.

And then I woke up here.

In a cage, who knows where.

I pressed myself to the back of the cage as I saw a person in a white coat walk towards my cage.

I was _so _screwed.

Max POV:

"Max?" I heard Fang's voice at my door. "Can I come in?"

"Go away." I groaned, my voice muffled from my pillow, but of course, since this is _Fang_, he came in anyway.

List of things that are stressing me out:

1. Fang.

2. Gazzy being missing.

3. Brigid the traitor.

4. My mom in the hospital.

5. Tension between me and Jeb/ me and Fang.

6. My needing to have a talk with Angel about her "doing bad things for good reasons."

7. "Saving the world."

8. Dylan, my so called "perfect other half."

9. Dylan's flock.

10. The apocalypse coming.

11. Fang dying.

12. My chip/not being able to fly/heart attacks.

13. A traitor in the flock.

14. The dog's wedding, and me having to wear a dress.

15. Having to deal with this annoyingly long list!

Sucks, doesn't it?

I felt the bed move as Fang sat down next to me, and I felt his warm hand on the back of my neck, stroking my hair.

"Hey." he said.

I rolled my eyes out of habit. "If you haven't thought of a plan to rescue Gazzy, then leave."

"Sitting in here moping around isn't gonna help us get Gazzy any sooner."

I sat up. "You're right."

He raised an eyebrow at me, probably shocked that I gave in so easily. "I am?"

"Yep." I stood up and walked toward the door, grabbing a pen and two pieces of paper. "And I'm going put my plan into action right now."

I walked out the door and down the halls quickly, not giving Fang time to follow me. I literally ran up and down the halls until I reached the room I wanted.

I went in without knocking and crossed my arms over my chest, looking at a person I didn't really want to talk to.

"Dylan, I need your help." I told him.

He raised an eyebrow at me, looking away from his magazine. "What for?"

I explained my plan to him, and his eyes widened.

"Max, you can't be serious."

"I am serious. This is why I asked you. Besides Fang and Iggy, you're the only other person strong enough to carry me where I need to go quick enough because I can't fly."

"Then why don't you ask them?"

"They would try to stop me from going. You on the other hand..."

"How do you know I wouldn't try to stop you?" he asked.

"Because you know if you tried, I would tell Fang you made some sexist comment about me, and I wouldn't try to stop him when he beat you up." I said casually.

He narrowed his eyes. "That's a low blow."

I shrugged. "Are you in or out?"

He thought about it for a few seconds. "I'm in. When do we leave?"

"Right now."

Fang would be _soooo_ pissed when he found out what I was doing, but I didn't really have any other choice. Well, that's probably not true. Let's say, I didn't bother looking at other choices, knowing I would probably chicken out.

I know what you're thinking. Was I really stupid enough to trade myself up to the School for Gazzy, just so my family would be safe? Well, right now, yes. I was on the verge of insanity, so yeah, I was that stupid. But at this point, I really didn't care. My family would be okay, hopefully they would let Gazzy go if I gave myself up, and they wouldn't have to worry about the chip anymore.

Dylan and I didn't talk on the way there. He just kept looking at me with a look that said, "Are you nuts?"

Due to Dylan's super speed, we were able to get there in about a half hour. When we were close enough to the School, I told him to stop, and land on the ground.

He set me down and stood in front of me. "Why do you want to stop here? Are you finally getting your common sense back?"

"No. This is my stop. It'll only take me about ten minutes to run the rest of the way there." I told him. "Thanks for this."

"There's still time to go back Max. There has to be another way. Don't do this."

"I have to Dylan." I sighed, and reached into my back pocket to the two pieces of paper I had written on before I left. I had slipped them into two envelopes, and labeled one "The Flock," and one "Fang". I grabbed Dylan's hand and put the two envelopes in his hand, closing it around them. "Give these to Fang, and my flock. Alright?"

He nodded. "Max, those things I said to Fang... I never meant to -"

I shook my head, smiling a bit. "Don't worry about it. I'm not gonna see all of you again probably, and I don't want to go leaving grudges with everyone."

"Don't say that Max." he shook his head.

"It's the truth. The only way that any of this will ever stop is if I give myself up. We can't stop our work for the CSM and I don't want anyone else getting hurt." I hugged him quickly and turned away from him and started walking before I could change my mind.

I stopped and turned toward him. He had a pained look on his face. I went toward him again and stopped in front of him. "Can I tell you something? A little advice?"

He nodded. "Sure."

"Your flock."

"What about them?"

"You know a lot of people, just like I do, and some of those people you really trust, but when it all boils down to it, your real family is your flock. Don't make the same mistake I did, and take that for granted. They were my family, my best friends, and look what happened." I gestured to everything around us. "Don't mess up your relationship with your flock the same way I did with mine."

He nodded again.

I turned around and walked toward what I was sure was going to be a living hell.

And I didn't look back.

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**...**

**No comment.**


	26. Chapter 25

**Here's the next chapter everyone! I thought I'd be a nice person and post it up when I had the chance. I will probably post a few chapters tomorrow, even though my house is going to be filled with the yells of my cousin Josh, my uncle david, and my dad, while they scream at the TV during the NFC championship between the Saints and the Vikings. The Saints are my hometeam, but I think they'll lose. But I said that about the playoffs, and look what happened!**

**And, I want you guys to go vote in the poll on my profile. "Who do you think would be most likely to betray the flock?" You can go do the poll, which would be awesome, or you could just be lazy and say it on a comment. I really couldn't care less. But it has to be one of the original six flock members. I know some of you consider Total a member of the flock, but he doesn't count in this poll.**

**Anywho..........**

**On with the story!**

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Chapter 25:

Fang POV:

I walked to Max's room, knowing she was overly-stressed out. I knocked on the door slightly. "Max? Can I come in?"

"Go away." I heard her say through the door.

I rolled my eyes, but went in anyway. I walked over to her bed, where she was lying with her face buried in a pillow. I pushed some hair away from the back of her neck. "Hey."

"If you haven't thought of a plan to rescue Gazzy, then leave." She told me.

"Sitting in here moping around isn't gonna help us get Gazzy any sooner." I said.

She sat up. "You're right."

I raised an eyebrow at me, shocked that she gave in so easily. "I am?" I asked.

"Yep." she stood up and walked toward the door, grabbing a pen and two pieces of paper on her way out. "And I'm going put my plan into action right now."

I stared after her. What plan?

I walked slowly toward the door, and looked out, not knowing which way she went. Why did I have the feeling that I needed to go after her? I  
shrugged, and headed back to my room. She'd tell me eventually.

* * *

I was in my room. I had talked to Max about two hours ago, and every minute that passed I just kept getting this sinking feeling. Something was wrong.

I closed my laptop and set it on the floor. I stood and headed out my door to Max's room. I was about to open the door, when someoone called my name.

"Fang?"

I looked in the direction of whoever had called my name, and saw Dylan walking towards me. I narrowed my eyes. He looked shaken up. Like he had seen something horrible.

"What?" I said bluntly. I didn't have time to deal with him.

He held out two envelopes to me. "Max told me to give these to you."

I hesitantly took the two thick envelopes from him. "What's this about? Where's Max?"

He shook his head, and, walking away, he said, "Just read what she wrote. I'm sure it'll explain everything."

I watched him leave, and looked at the two envelopes in my hands. One was labeled "The flock" and one was labeled "Fang."

I had a sudden feeling of dread as I opened the envelope that said "The Flock." I felt a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach.

I opened the note and read it, my heart sinking with each word. I stared at the letter after I had read and it, and without another thought, I yelled  
out, "IGGY!!!!"

Iggy ran out of his room, closely followed by Ella. I subconsciously rolled my eyes. "What the hell Fang?! You scared the crap out of me!"

"Read this!" I yelled, causing Nudge and Angel to walk out of Nudge's room along with the dogs.

Iggy rolled his eyes. "Uh, Fang, aren't you forgetting the teensy weensy minor detail that I'm _blind!?_"

I smacked him upside the head. "Be serious! This isn't a time for jokes!"

Dr. Martinez walked in then, with Jeb following closely behind her. "What in the world is going on?"

"Max has just made the biggest mistake of her life!" I yelled.

"Fang, calm down." Ella said. "Explain what's going on."

"Dylan came and delivered _this,_" I held out the letter that was written to the entire flock.

"Are you going to tell us what it says?" Iggy asked.

I handed Ella the note, and she looked over it. Her mouth dropped open and she dropped it and covered her mouth with her hands. "She couldn't  
have. She can't have."

Dr. Martinez walked over and picked up the note, and started to read it, word for word, without realizing what it said until she started reading.

_Dear, well, everyone,_

I know you all are probably going to seriously hate me for doing this, but a bird-kids gotta do what a bird-kids gotta do. I've thought long and hard about the choices I had, and my mind kept going back to this one. The easiest, yet the hardest.

I'm giving myself up to the School, or Itex, whichever that place is. I'll try to trade myself in place of Gazzy, so at least he'll be safe. I don't think I could stand it if anything else happened to my family, so I know this is for the best. For all of you, and for the world. I don't want you to come after me, because if you do, I won't go with you. It's as plain and simple as that. So, I guess it's safe to say that I won't ever see you guys again.

Mom and Ella. I know I haven't known you guys for as long as I would have liked, but that's life, isn't it? It gives, and it takes away. But I love you guys, and feel like I've known you forever, which is pretty much a long time in my book. Be safe, and tell John I said goodbye. Oh, and Ella, don't worry, Iggy feels the same about you that you feel about him.

Jeb. I never really trusted you until you rescued us from the School. Then when we found out you betrayed us, all my trust in you disappeared. And even though it's the end, I still don't trust you. No offense. But even though I hate to admit it, we've still been through al lot, and... I'll miss you, dad.

Total. I know if I didn't say goodbye to him, he would have a total hissy fit. So, even though you annoyed the crap out of me sometimes, I'm still gonna miss you. Good luck with wedding.

Gazzy. If you ever do get back to the house, I love you Gaz. You were always my little trooper, and I could always count on you for a good laugh, whether, it was from mimicing, or from, your "other abilities."

Nudge. My little Fashionista Nudge Channel. Make sure that Iggy and Gazzy don't blow up the house... or anyone else. And talk as much as you want, in  
reason. You never know when you'll next get the chance. Always share your opinion, even though sometimes, people will want you to stop talking.

Iggy. I'm sure someday soon you'll get your eyesight back. It seems to have been coming back a little at a time, so I'm sure one day it'll come back fully. Try not to blow anything up with Gazzy. And take a chance and just ask Ella out already! We've all been waiting for you to do it. Even though we all know the two of you make out when no one's around...

Angel. Please, please, at least try to not eavesdrop on everyone's thoughts, and no, just because I'm gone, doesn't mean you can be the leader. Anyway, I love you sweetie. You could always find a way to brighten up my day. You were the daughter I never had.

So, I guess that's it everyone. This is it. The last you'll no doubt ever hear of Maximum Ride. I love all of you. You're my family, and even though sometimes, you're all a pain in the neck, I still care about you.

Bye,

With love,

Max.

* * *

**Please review and check out the poll on my profile! Note: Reviews will make me update faster with longer chapters!!!!!!**

**And I know some of you are probably thinking, *gasp!*_ OMG SHE FORGOT FANG!!!!_ **

**She did not, I repeat, _NOT_, forget Fang. She wrote Fang his own letter, remember?**

**R&R!**


	27. Chapter 26

**Okay! Here's the next chapter, as promised! It's kind of short, but I'll post up the next chapter later, probably like, in a few minutes.**

**R&R!!! WE'RE ALL THE WAY TO 100 REVIEWS!!! YAY!!!!**

* * *

Chapter 26:

Gazzy POV:  
My first thought when they threw me out the gates of the School was, "What the hell?"  
But, you know, I wasn't one to judge, at least in this situation. I looked back at the School, and whipped out my wings without a second thought, heading back to the house.

I felt a tight feeling in my gut, seemingly pulling me back there. But there was absolutely no way I was going back there. Not again.

Little did I know what I was leaving behind.

I reached the house a little past 11:00 at night. I was super tired, starving, and just wanted to go take a shower, then a long nap.

"GAZZY!!!!!!!!!!! OMG, YOU'RE BACK!!!!!" I heard before I was tackled by Nudge and Angel.

I pushed them off of me as Iggy, Fang, Dr. M, the dogs, Jeb, and Ella entered the room.

It was then that I noticed all of their sad faces. "What?"

I looked at Angel, Ella, Dr. Martinez and Nudge's tear-streaked faces. Then to Iggy and Jeb sad faces, and Fang's face, which showed pain. Everyone was really quiet. It was a really depressing mood.

"What's going on?" I asked.

Fang POV:

Explaining to Gazzy what had happened to Max was _not_ fun.

When Gazzy found out that Max was the reason he was let go, he felt it was his fault that he didn't know, because he could have stopped her. Poor kid blamed himself.

After midnight, I was fed up with watching everyone cry.

"I'm going to bed." I muttered, to them, as they all watched me walk off to my room in pity. I didn't tell them about Max's note to me, so they probably felt bad she didn't say anything to me in her letter. Little did they know, she did.

Did I read the letter yet? Nope. And the truth is, I didn't want to. It would be like, admitting defeat. Admitting that I wouldn't see her again. Admitting that this would probably be the last time in my life, that I would see Maximum Ride, the love of my life.

I fell onto my bed, burying my face in my pillow.

How could she have done something so stupid?

I turned on my back and looked at the envelope lying on my bedside table. I took a deep breath, and picked it up with shaking hands.

_Fang,_

_I know, I know. You probably think this was the biggest mistake I've ever made and everything, blah, blah, blah. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. We'll find out soon enough._

_I actually don't know why I'm writing this. Knowing you, you'll be stubborn enough to not even read it. Maybe I'm doing it for my own benefit. Just to admit it all to myself, maybe. To have that one spark of hope that you'll actually read this, and know how I felt. I know, Maximum Ride talking about emotions. It shocked me too._

_I don't want you to come after me Fang. Because I know you'll try. If you do end up coming after me, I won't go with you. I'm sorry, but I won't. If this works the way I think it will, then you might not have to worry about the School again._

_I want you to be the leader of the flock now. It is officially your job. Look after them, and do whatever you think is best. And, even though it pains me greatly to say this, I think it would be good if you move on with your life. You're a great guy Fang, get yourself a nice girl and have a life. Have kids, and move on, because chances are, we'll never see each other again. I want you to move on. All of you. But I don't want you to forget, because I know I won't._

_I guess what I'm trying to say is, I'm sorry. For everything. All of the fights, arguments, disagreements… Everything. The worst thing about leaving was knowing I might not be able to ever see you again. And I know that sounds really corny, but it's true._

_Because, I guess the truth is that I love you Fang. I always have, even though I wouldn't always admit it to myself. And even though we're far away from each other, I'll always love you. But I know that my leaving will be for the best._

_I'll think of you every single day, every step of the way. I'll miss you more than_

_you believe, and yet, I don't regret my decision._

_I guess my point is: _

_I love you._

_I'll miss you._

_And I'll never forget you._

_Or the flock for that matter._

_Love,_

_Max._

I stared at the paper, and read it again.

And again.

And again.

So, she spent all this time running whenever I kissed her, and now, when she pretty much sends herself to her death sentence, she tells me she loves me.

…

_WHAT THE HELL?!?!?!?!?!?!?_

And the worst part was, chances were, that I was never gonna see her again.

* * *

**Awww... Poor Fang...**

**R&R?**


	28. Chapter 27

**Review!!!!!**

* * *

Chapter 27:

Max POV:

The second I walked through the gates, I was ambushed. I was knocked to the ground by some of the "New Threat" soldiers, and they held me down, pushing my face in the dirt.

"Uh, morons?!" I yelled out. "I came here of my own free will! You don't have to hold me down!"

They loosened their grip on me, and pulled me to my feet.

One of them pulled on my hair and forced me to look up, towards the building. Cynthia Bronson was walking up to me with a closely following Mr. Chu. I rolled my eyes.

They walked up to me, and stopped a few feet away as if I had some infectious disease.

"Um," I asked, "can you get these morons off of me? If I came here of my own free will, obviously, I don't plan on leaving any time soon."

Cynthia nodded at the New Threat and they let me go. I dusted some of the dirt off of my clothes. "You knew didn't you?" I asked her.

She smiled a sickly sweet smile at me. "What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean." I told her. "You knew I would be back didn't you?"

She tapped her chin as if she were thinking. "Hm, yes, I guess I did know. You just needed a little push. The taking of one of your own seemed to do the trick."

I was about to speak, but she interrupted me. "Don't worry. He's safe, and is being released as we speak. All we need is you, Max. Anyone else does not matter."

"I can tell." I muttered. "I know your plan. I know how you got me to come back here."

"Oh, really? Do tell." She said, smiling again.

"That chip. It releases a poison when it's taken out doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does. I'm surprised Maximum. It seems that I haven't given you enough credit."

"Yeah, that tends to happen." I said. "If we had taken out the chip, it would have killed me, and no doubt everyone else in that house, because we didn't have the antidote."

"Go on…" she said.

"If I would have left the chip in, it would have killed me sooner or later."

"Sooner, rather than later. But go on, you're on the right track." Cynthia said, urging me to continue.

"You guys are the only ones who have the antidote, and the only way you'd give it to us is if we stopped our work with the CSM, which isn't gonna happen. So, here I am. You win."

"Excellent problem-solving skills." She said thoughtfully. "Yes, Max, it was simple really. All we had to do was threaten your flock. You'd do anything to protect them. Your leading and protective instincts are large. So, whichever choice you chose, you lose, and we win."

I looked down at my feet. "I know. It's better me than them."

"Hm. We'll see." She said. "Bring her." She turned around and started walking back to the building. Mr. Chu sneered at me, and followed her. _What, no sarcastic comments?_

They pushed me forward, and I stumbled, falling to the ground. They pulled me up again and pushed me forward roughly. I rolled my eyes, and followed them into the building.

When we went inside, the one who seemed to be the leader pushed me down a pathway opposite the one the others were going. "This time, you won't be able to roam around the halls."

"That's alright." I said casually. "I know my way around this place well enough already, but thanks for your concern. It's greatly appreciated."

I heard a growl from deep within his throat and the next thing I knew, I was flying backwards, and I crashed into the wall, sliding down to the floor.

"Only speak when spoken to." He hissed, picking me up by my throat and lifting me up, pressing me against the wall.

I clawed at his hands, trying to get him to let go. He dropped me on the ground, and I coughed, trying to refill my lungs. "If I recall, you _were_ speaking to me."

He grabbed my arm forcefully, and literally dragged me down the hall to a heavily bolted door.

He took out a key and opened it, and threw me in. I gasped as my head hit the back wall, and I crumpled to the ground again. He slammed the door, and I heard the lock click shut.

Way to go, Max.

Now good luck trying to find a way out of this.

I looked around the room. It was damp, dark, and dirty. The three D's. I subconsciously rolled my eyes at myself. Not a good time to make jokes Max. It was bare, no furniture. It was like it was just… there.

_**You'll figure out something Max. **_said the Voice.

_I don't know. I'm pretty screwed, and apparently my luck has run out._

_**Don't give up yet. You have a long way to go.**_

_You know, I'm really not in the mood to hear all this fortune cookie crap._

The Voice was quiet, and I thought it wouldn't bother me anymore. I sighed and laid down. Might as well try to get some sleep. I was going to need it.

I wonder if he flock had read my notes yet. I wonder if Fang had read his. Knowing him, he probably would never open it.

_**Would you like to talk to him?**_

_Well, of course. But it's not gonna happen. I probably won't ever see him again. _My heart clenched at those words.

_**You can talk to him.**_

I snorted. _And how do you suppose I do that? E-mail?_

Silence.

_That's what I thought._

_**You could talk to him. You have the power. Like I said, the two of you are soul mates. You are connected in a way that is impossible for most. You know how you always feel like the two of you could read each other's minds? Well, this is the reason.**_

I sat up. _Huh?_

_**Maximum, as I've told you time and time again, you and Fang have an unbreakable bond that most would claim doesn't even exist. You have been through so much, and nothing can change that. No matter who comes along, or the choices either of you make.**_

_So?_

_**So, this would mean that you are connected in more ways than one.**_

_..._

_And this is supposed to mean something to me because…_

I could have sworn I heard the Voice sigh with impatience. _**You can communicate with Fang if you try hard enough Max.**_

_How am I supposed to do that?_

No answer.

Great…

When I wanna be alone, it decides to get chatty, but when I want answers, it's quiet.

I sighed. How was I supposed to talk to Fang? We were God knows how many miles away from each other. How were we supposed to communicate from that long of a distance?

I closed my eyes, and leaned against the wall. Might as well give it a shot.

_Fang?_

Silence. I sighed, and tried again. _Fang?!_

One more try. I took a deep breath and literally screamed in my head. _FANG!!!???_

Nothing. I let out the deep breath I was holding. This was hopeless.

_Max?_

* * *

***gasp!* Sorry for the cliffie, but I thought this would be a good way to end the chapter! I'll try to update soon!**

**R&R!**


	29. Chapter 28

**Here's the next chapter update! Oh, and _please_ go vote in the poll on my profile!**

**R&R**

* * *

Chapter 28:

Max POV:

My eyes widened automatically.

_Oh, my God, Fang?_

_Max? What the hell is going on?_

_No idea._

_Where are you? Are you alright? Are you –_

_You didn't read my note did you._I said it as a statement. I can't believe I could actually _talk_ to _Fang. _

He was quiet for a few seconds, but somehow I could tell he was there. Kind of inside my head…

God, I was going crazy.

_I read it._

_You did?_

_Yeah. Let me ask you something. Every single time I tried to kiss you, you ran away, but after you send yourself to your death when we'll probably never see each other again, you tell me you love me. What exactly was the point in that?_

_Um…_

_Max, just tell me why you left._

_You know why._

_Well, apparently I don't know do I? How could you do something like that Max?_

_If you're gonna say this kind of stuff then I won't talk to you._ I crossed my arms over my chest as if he could actually see me, then rolled my eyes at my stupidity.

_Fine. How are we doing… this? How are we talking like this?_

_Honestly I have no idea. _I told him what the Voice had told me. _From what I figure, we could always do it, but we never knew we could._

_That's… disturbing._

I rolled my eyes, and flinched as I heard voices outside the door.

_Did Gazzy make it back?_

_Yeah, he did. He was pretty shaken up, especially after what we told him you did, but he seemed okay._

_Good._

We were both quiet as I listened to the muffled voices outside the door.

_Did you mean it?_

I jumped automatically, still not used to having him in my head. _Did I mean what?_

_What you said in the note?_

_I said a lot of things._ I automatically avoided the subject.

I could have sworn I had heard him sigh. _Max…_

I heard the lock to the door open, and the door swung open. I gasped, the bright light suddenly filling the room. I turned away as the New Threat and some whitecoats stared at me.

_Max? What's wrong?_

_You heard me?_

_Yes. What's going on?_

_Nothing. I gotta go._

I quickly shut down all my thoughts about Fang, making sure that he couldn't hear me. If he heard me gasp out loud, then he could probably hear me or the whitecoats talking. That would not be good. I had a random thought: If he could hear everything I said inside and out of my body, then could he see my surroundings too?

The New Threat leader grabbed my collar and pulled me up, and dragged me out the door. He pushed me forward and I followed the whitecoats. We walked past a few doors on the way to wherever we were going, and from inside there was screaming. I flinched every time I heard it.

They stopped at a door, and went in, and I was pushed in after them. I fell on my knees, and looked around at my surroundings. The walls were a bleached white color, and the Clorox smell was over-bearing.

The whitecoats stood over to the side, scribbling down my every move on a piece of paper.

Weirdo's.

One of them handed their clipboard to another, and walked up to me. He had something that looked like a pair of black sunglasses in his hands. I moved away as he came closer to me, not wanting to find out whatever it was he was holding.

The whitecoat stopped and glanced at something behind me when I kept moving away.

"Don't be scared of her." Said a_ very _familiar voice from behind me. "That'll just make her ego get larger than it already is."

I turned my head to the side thoughtfully, but not turning around. I didn't want to take the chance of having to deal with whatever the whitecoat was holding. Where had I heard that voice before? It was so familiar…

I felt a thick hand suddenly go around my neck, and another hand grab both my arms, holding them so I couldn't move.

"Put them on." The voice behind me ordered.

I gasped and my eyes widened. My squirming stopped, and I went into complete and utter shock. The person behind me chuckled, as if he had guessed that I knew. "Amazing, isn't it Maximum." The person behind me whispered in my ear, as the whitecoat stepped forward and put the glasses on me. I was still frozen in shock, unable to move.

_Come on, Max. Get it together. _I told myself. _This is just another random puzzle piece they've thrown at you. Ignore it._ I kept saying it over and over and over in my head, and even when I couldn't see past the glasses anymore.

It couldn't be him, could it? We haven't seen him since…

"Oh, yes, Maxi. It's me alright. I'm back, and badder than ever."

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**Let's see if anyone can guess who this new person is.......**


	30. Chapter 29

**I have a few things to say before we start this chapter.**

**1. No, you will not find out who the mysterious person is who was with Max the last chapter.**

**2. This chapter is kind of like chapter 28, but in Fang's POV. It's not the same, but it tells Fang's POV of their "mind conversation," or whatever you want to call it.**

**3. Thank you to black-velvet-wings for pointing out a mistake I made. In the chapter where the flock reads Max's note, I put that Dr. Martinez was there with them, but Dr. M was already in the hospital in a coma. Forget that I put her with the flock. Sadly, Dr. M is still in the coma in the hospital.**

**R&R!**

Chapter 29:

Fang POV:

_Fang? _I heard something soft almost whisper in my head. I shook it off, ignoring it with the assumption that I was just going crazy. Wouldn't surprise me in the least.

_FANG?!?!?!?!_

I jumped and accidentally fell off my bed, and onto the floor, startled. What the hell was that?! For a second there it sounded like…

_Max? _I whispered in my head, sounding like an idiot.

_Oh, my God, Fang?_

_Max? _I asked. This was too good to be true. _What the hell is going on?_

_No idea._

_Where are you? Are you alright? Are you –_

_You didn't read my note did you._She asked.

_I read it_. I said after a while.

_You did?_

_Yeah. Let me ask you something. Every single time I tried to kiss you, you ran away, but after you send yourself to your death when we'll probably never see each other again, you tell me you love me. What exactly was the point in that?_

_Um…_

_Max, just tell me why you left._

_You know why._

_Well, apparently I don't know do I? How could you do something like that Max?_

_If you're gonna say this kind of stuff then I won't talk to you._

I sighed. She was always so freakin' stubborn._ Fine. How are we doing… this? How are we talking like this?_

_Honestly I have no idea._She explained what the voice had told her. _From what I figure, we could always do it, but we never knew we could._

_That's… disturbing. _I commented.

I could see her rolling her eyes and…

Wait a second, I could see her. _I could see her._

We talked for a few seconds, and I debated whether or not to tell her that I could see her.

I heard her gasp. _Max? What's wrong?_

_You heard me?_

Well, obviously if I asked you what's wrong. _Yes. What's going on?_

_Nothing. I gotta go._ She said, and the connection between us had gotten cut off.

_Max?!_

I groaned and had the sudden urge to bang my head against the wall. I cursed. Why did I let her go?

I ran out the door and to Iggy's room. I banged on the door. "Iggy! Stop making out with Ella and get your skinny white ass out here!"

I heard laughing come from Nudge's room and Ella's voice yell out. "Hey!"

Iggy's door swung open. "Ella's not even in here! What the hell do you want?!"

"I heard Max." I told Iggy as the girls and Gazzy came out of their rooms to see what all the fuss was about.

Iggy shook his head. "What?"

_"I. Heard. Max." _I said. "What part of that don't you understand?"

He turned to the others. "Someone go get Jeb. I think he's finally lost it."  
I rolled my eyes, and grabbed his shirt collar. "I'm dead serious, Iggy. I'm not going crazy."

"That's what they all say." He said.

I let him go and smacked him upside the head, while the kids watched the exchange with amused expressions.

"Okay, okay." Iggy said. "Explain what you're talking about."

I explained what Max told me, and what she had told me about what the Voice told her.

Iggy stared at me for a second, which was kinda creepy since he was blind. "Dude, can our lives get any weirder?"

I rolled my eyes at him.

"So what do you think we should do?" Nudge asked. "I know we're not going to just let her stay there, even though if we do go get her, she might not come with us like she said in the note, but we have to try because this is Max we're talking about, and –"

Angel clapped a hand over her mouth.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Gazzy asked.

"I think we should go after her."

"Shocker." Iggy muttered.

I ignored him.

"How do we even know where she is?" Angel asked.

"Well, Gazzy's new power, for one. And two, the only place near enough for her to have gotten was the one we rescued her from in the first place."

Nudge pried Angel's fingers away from her mouth. "Good plan, but how are we supposed to convince her to come with us?"

"We'll figure that out later." I said, walking back to my room. "Get your stuff together. We leave in five."

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**REVIEW!!!!!!!! (and go vote in the poll!)**


	31. Chapter 30

**Yay! Longer - (ish) chapter! Woohoo!!!!!!!**

**Oh, and that person who I wouldn't tell you about... It's Lissa!**

**No, just kidding, it's not. Don't worry.**

**Good job to the people who guessed actually _did _who that "blast from Max's past" was: black-velvet-wings, who guessed it exactly, and my personal favorite, Dovekit, who said, Ari?Umm..who else was there..?The Voice?No..cant be..not Jeb..um..Dylan?*sigh* I hate to wait...or that one boy,Max's bf in one of the books!I don't remember his has to be him! probably not..**

**It took her a while, but she got it eventually. It's SAM, Max's ex-boyfriend from Virginia!**

**Review!**

Chapter 30:

Max POV:

_(Previously: Max's POV)_

_Come on, Max. Get it together. I told myself. This is just another random puzzle piece they've thrown at you. Ignore it. I kept saying it over and over and over in my head, and even when I couldn't see past the glasses anymore._

_It couldn't be him, could it? We haven't seen him since…_

"_Oh, yes, Maxi. It's me alright. I'm back, and badder than ever."_

I struggled against the person who was holding me, trying to shake off the glasses.

It was Sam.

From _Virginia._

What the _hell _was he doing _here?_

It wasn't possible. If he was an Eraser, then he would've died a long time ago, like Ari did.

Right?

I felt something hard hit my back, and I fell on the ground. Someone pressed something on the side of the glasses, and I wasn't there anymore.

Well, I was, but it's complicated.

I could feel someone holding my hands behind my back, and I distantly heard people talking, but I couldn't see them.

I was in a clearing, in a forest, and I didn't have the glasses on, though I could feel them on my face. I looked around.

I was alone.

I walked forward a few steps, and stopped in the middle of the clearing.

"Max?"

I turned around slowly, and saw Fang coming out of the trees.

"Fang?" I started to walk forward, and soon enough, I started running, but it seemed, the more I ran, the farther away I'd get from him.

The scene changed again. Now, I was in the middle of an abandoned road. It looked like I was in the middle of a desert. I turned around, and I was in a different place again.

I was up high, on a building. It looked to be the Empire State Building.

I shook my head. What was going on?

"Max! Help! Come back Max! Please come back! We need you! You can't do this!" I whipped my head around and saw...

Nothing.

The scene changed again and I was at my mom's old house in Arizona, except this time, I wasn't alone.

I was being held back, a knife to my throat, being pulled away from my flock by my hair and arms. I was a few yards away from them, when whoever was holding me, stopped, and we turned around to face the flock. They were all being held back by Erasers, along with my mom, and Ella. Where Total was, I had no clue.

Wait, Erasers?

I struggled to get away, to get back to my family.

Just then, a blonde-haired blue-eyed boy about the age of seven walked forward towards them. He stopped in the middle of all of us, and turned to me.

It was Ari. Little, innocent, seven year old Ari. Not big scary Eraser Ari.

"I'm sorry Max." he told me, before he turned back to my family, and into an Eraser. He grew taller, and more hairy, with sharp teeth and huge muscles. He snarled at me family, and then sent a sick smile over his shoulder to me. "This turned out to be easier than I thought it would be."

That's when it hit me.

"Ari!" I screamed. "Stop Ari! This isn't you! You don't have to listen to them!" _We can get through this. We always get through this. We can get through this._

"Unfortunately, it is me, and it always will be me." He stepped up towards my mom, and it killed me to look at the terror in her eyes.

"Stop Ari! Take me instead! Just don't kill them! _Please_!" I could feel the tears starting to leak out of my eyes as I screamed at him, but my screaming didn't do any good.

Ari's hand came down on my mom's head, and even from where I was standing, I could hear her neck break. I screamed, and so did Ella and the other girls. The guys turned their heads away.

Ari moved onto Ella.

"Ari! Ari, stop! They're controlling you! This isn't you Ari!"

Ella dropped the same way mom did. I nearly died as he went to Gazzy, then Nudge, then Iggy.

Soon enough, the only two left were Fang and Angel. Tears were rushing down my face uncontrollably, and I struggled as hard as I could to get away to save the last two members of my flock. It took at least six of them to holdme back, and at least seven to hold back Fang. Angel had given up completely, and was just standing there.

Angel's voice entered my head. _Why didn't you save us Max?_

I stopped struggling altogether, and just stared at her. My heart clenched. She avoided my eyes, and didn't look up, even when Ari did to her the same as he did to the others.

I screamed bloody murder, watching her fall to the ground, and started struggling against the Erasers again.

I could barely take it as Ari slowly walked over to Fang.

"Ari, please." I said weakly. "Don't do this."

I gasped as Ari punched Fang in the stomach, hard enough to make double over in pain. He fell to his knees, and didn't look up at Ari.

Ari punched Fang in the jaw, and Fang wiped some blood from the side of his mouth.

Why didn't Ari just get it over with already? We all knew what was going to happen.

That's when I realized why he was going so slow.

He was teasing me.

"Why are you doing this Ari?!" I yelled, trying to distract him.

I might have just imagined it, but I could have sworn I heard him say, "Because I have to." Right before he finished off with Fang.

I screamed, and the Erasers holding me let me go. I scrambled towards my flock, but I couldn't seem to get there. I was running, but I wasn't moving.

I fell to the ground on a cold metal floor, my face soaked in tears. I covered my face with my hands shakily, not wanting to see what new terror I hane to face.

They're not dead. They can't be dead. It's not true. It _can't _be true!

I heard feet shuffling over to me, and voices above me saying, "Excellent protecting skills... I'm surprised it was able to go that far." I heard scribbling of pens on paper, and I pried my hands away from my face, and looked up at a bright white light. I blinked, and looked at the scientists in white coats surrounding me. I was back at The School, and the glasses I had been wearing were in the corner of the room. I must have flung them off. So, the glasses were what was making me see that?

I glanced out a little window in the corner of the room. It was dark out. Already? How long did I have those things on?

"Stand up." Sam pulled me to my feet, and my eyes widened in shock at him. I stared.

He noticed. "Interesting isn't it?" He pulled me out of my room, and swiftly down the narrow hallways, my face still streaming with tears.

"How?" was all i said.

"Once you and the rest of your precious flock left, The School took a few of us that you interacted a lot with. We gave them some information, and they gave us power." He shrugged as if it was no big deal.

I looked away from him, straight forward, not bothering to look at him. "So you weren't an Eraser."

"Nope. I'm not now either. I'm a brand new experiment."

"A mix of what? An ostrich and a giraffe?" I asked sarcastically.

I fell forward as I felt a sharp blow to my back. He pulled me up and we started walking again as if nothing had happened. "It's for me to know, and for you to not find out." he said.

"Wow, corny much?" I muttered.

We walked for a few minutes in silence, passing Whitecoats on our way back to my "cell."

"Wait, if you said that they took people we interacted with, does that mean J.J.? Or Tess? Lissa?"

He stared at me for a second, then nodded, deciding it probably wouldn't be any harm, but he waited until we reached my cell before answering. He opened it up, and pushed me in, causing me to fall on my knees and scrape them against the floor. "Lissa's here; I see her around a lot. Tess, J.J. and the others... I'm not sure. A lot of people tried to defend you, including the two of them. Most of them who did defend you guys, died. That's all I know. They could be dead right now for all I care."

"Why you little -" I started to walk up to him, ready to give him a black eye, but he slammed the door in my face.

J.J.? Tess? _Dead_? Lissa was _here? _Sam is an _experiment_? Is Lissa? Who else did I know in Virginia that is now an experiment?

I slowly sat down, and leaned against the wall.

This was going to be a long night.

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**Review!**


	32. Chapter 31

**Hey guys. Sorry I didn't update yesterday, but I had to make sure I worded this chapter exactly right or it wouldn't have turned out the way I wanted it to. Sorry! R&R**

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Chapter 31:

Fang POV:

Remind me to never, ever, _ever, _make Nudge go anywhere without letting her eat first.

"Fang, I'm hungry." She said for the fiftieth time. "Can we stop to get something to eat?"

I opened my mouth to answer, but Iggy interrupted me. "Nudge, first of all, we don't have any money. Second of all, how can you think of food right now?"

"I can always think of food. I mean, it's _food._"

I tuned out the oncoming argument and flew a little farther ahead.

_You don't have a plan, do you Fang. _Angel sent me mentally.

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. _Of course I do. I'm using the Max strategy._

She looked at me with a confused look on her face.

_Winging it._ I explained.

She smiled angelically at me, and turned to Gazzy. I blocked my mind from her.

Honestly, I wasn't lying when I said I was winging it. No pun intended. I had absolutely no plan whatsoever, and I wasn't even absolutely sure Max would come with us. When I last "talked" to her, she seemed different. More nervous.

Maybe even scared.

Although, _she _will never admit that.

I wondered if the telepathic thing worked both ways. Could I talk to her?

_Max? Max are you there?_

And if you're wondering, yes, I did feel like a moron. Talking to yourself is one of the first signs of insanity.

Oh, I was _way _past that.

_**Fang? **_I heard her voice in my head.

_Yeah. Are you alright? You sound weak._

_**They just finished some kind of surgery… I'm not sure what it is, bt I think they took the chip out.**_

_That's good. Why's you cut me off earlier? _I asked her.

_**It's nothing.**_

_Max, I know they took you. I just want to know what they did, and if you're alright. _

_**How'd you know they took me?**_

_Way to avoid the subject. I can see you._

_**…What?**_

_I'm not really sure. It's like I can see what's happening to you through your eyes, but only when you let me. It's kind of confusing._

_**I'll say. Can you see me now?**_

_I can't see you, but I can see your surroundings. Like I said, I can see through your eyes. I can see what you see through your eyes, and what I'm seeing through my eyes at the same time._

_**Yeah, and that's not stalker-ish at all.**_

I rolled my eyes. At least she felt well enough to use sarcasm. _What did they do to you?_

_**That's none of your business, so forget about it.**_

_Max…_

_**Sam's here. And so is Lissa.**_

_Who?_

She rolled her eyes. _**You know, from Virginia?**_

_No clue what you're talking about._

_**My ex-boyfriend, and your ex-girlfriend?**_

_Not ringing any bells here…_

_**The Red-Haired Wonder, Fang.**_

_Oh, them. What are they doing there?_

_**Sam told me that when we left, they recruited some of the people we interacted with in Virginia, and turned them into mutations.**_

_What are they?_

_**No clue. But it gets worse. A lot of people tried to defend us, and whoever did, ended up dead. So that means Tess, J.J., and some of the teachers are probably dead.**_

We were both silent, thinking back on our days in Virginia.

Max was the first to speak. _**It seems like it was so long ago, but in reality, it was only a couple of months.**_

_Time flies._

_**How's my mom doing so far?**_

_The same._

_**What about the flock? Are they alright? And Ella?**_

_Everyone's fine, but they're all a little bit mad at you._

_**Why? **_She asked.

_You left. _I answered simply.

We were both quiet again. _**I'm sorry. **_She said. _**This might've been one of the stupidest things I've done, but I don't regret it.**_

_If we came and tried to rescue you, would you come with us?_

She was silent for a long time before answering. _**I don't know. **_She paused, and continued again. _**You're on your way, aren't you.**_

_Of course. The School's in sight now._

_**Fang… **_She started, but I left her mind, not wanting her to try and stop me.

Because I was getting her out, and we were blowing that hell hole to pieces, whether she wanted me to, or not.

"Are we almost there?" asked Iggy.

"Almost. We maybe have a minute or two left." We all automatically pumped our wings harder, and flew faster towards the School.

Every second we went closer, I was filled with a sense of dread. What if Max really wouldn't want to come with us? I quickly shook that thought out of my head, and asked everyone, "We're all clear on the plan, right?"

"Yeah," Nudge started. Oh, Lord. "You and Angel go and find Max and make her come with us. I go around and see if I can find any information. And Iggy and Gazzy plant the bomb so we can destroy this place for good, right?"

I nodded. We all turned and tilted up, high above the clouds, and flew down and landed on the high roof.

"Everyone ready?" I asked.

They all nodded. "Alright. Let's go rescue Max."

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Max POV:

Fang is such a moron.

Of course, you already knew that.

After my "conversation" with him, I still wasn't sure whether I would leave or not. It's not like I wanted to stay there or anything, I just… needed to go. To save Gazzy, and everyone else.

I wrapped my arms around my legs, and rested my knees on my chest. An hour or so after the thing with the glasses, I got dragged out of the cell again, and they took me to some operating room. No idea what they did, I was passed out the whole time, but I know it had something to do with my heart. I was hoping they had taken the chip out, and I wouldn't die a slow and miserable death, but you never know with these people. And, honestly, I didn't want to take the chance that they _didn't _take it out, and unfurling my wings and getting a nasty shock, which would no doubt be painful, and with my luck trigger another heart attack.

That would not be good, so I wasn't taking any chances.

I sighed, bored out of my mind.

I listened closely to everything that was outside to see if I could hear -

_Crash!_

I whipped my head towards the door, and heard a sort of alarm being set off. I heard yelling, and shouting, and people running down the halls. There was a loud thump, and the door to my cell swung open to reveal Fang and Angel.

"You coming or what?" Fang asked.

He held out his hand to me, wanting me to take it. I didn't reach out for it at once. Should I stay here, or should I leave?

**(A/N Now, I was going to end this chapter here, but I'm not that cruel. :D)**

My heart thumped uneasily in my chest, as Angel and Fang stared at me intently.

I watched them for a few seconds, and hesitantly reached out to grab Fang's hand. He pulled me up, and the relief was evident on his face.

We ran out the door to see the entire place in utter chaos.

"Come on." Fang pulled me down a few hallways with Angel following closely behind us. "We only have a few minutes."

"A few minutes until what?" I asked him as we took another turn down another hallway.

He glanced at me quickly. "Until Iggy and Gazzy's bomb blows up the place."

"_What?!_"

He shook his head, and pulled me faster, Angel running to keep up.

"There they are!" I heard a voice behind me yell. I didn't bother looking back.

"We have to hurry, Fang." Angel said. "They've already set the timer and are on their way out."

"We just have to find that window..." he muttered. We turned yet another corner, and a few feet away ended up at a window.

Without a beat, Angel jumped out and Fang scopped me up bridal style and jumped out the window, whipping out his wings. I heard yells as the people who were chasing us watched us quickly fly away.

I watched them while Fang took the two of us farther and farther away. My eyes widened as I watched the people at The School. "Uh, Fang? Slight problem."

"What?"

"They're bringing out guns."

Fang flew faster not bothering to look back, and soon enough we were out of range of the guns.

"You know I can carry myself, right? I do have wings, and they took the chip out." I told him.

"I thought you said you weren't sure?" he asked.

"I'm not."

"Then we dont wanna take that chance, now do we?" he asked, a smirk on his face.

I rolled my eyes, but kept quiet, my exhaustion finally taking over. I leaned my head against his arm, and he tightened his grip on me.

We flew up to the flock, and they all welcomed me with a chorus of, "Max!"

I looked over them, making sure they were all okay...

Wait a minute.

I counted them. One, two, three, four, five. Including me.

I counted again, and again quickly in my head.

We were missing someone.

My eyes widened, and my breathing sped up. "Where's -"

_BOOM!_

Although it was more like,

_BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!_

An ear-splitting noise of the bomb going off went through the silence. I covered my ears, and so did everyone else, except Fang, who was holding me. We all winced. A dark brown and gray mushroom cloud came up from the building.

We all stared towards the building, where one of the flock had been left inside.

"No." I whispered, tears running down my cheeks.

Anguish came over the flock as they realized what happened.

One of the flock members hadn't gotten out.

And they had been inside the building when the bomb had gone off.

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**Don't hate me! and try to guess who was left inside. R&R**


	33. Chapter 32

**Hola people! Sorry for not updating sooner. I had a serious case of writers block. :( But that is all over now! Yay!**

**Before we start, shout-outs to: Glitterwave, Fang14Max14Iggy14, and I think that's it. Congrats to the people who guessed who was left behind! If I left you out, sorry.**

**And to XoFangandMaxoX: Yeah, I know Max is a little OOC lately, but don't worry, there's a reason for that. She will soon become the badass we all know and love!!!!! And sorry if you think the eye-rolling's a little too much. I'll see what I can do.**

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Chapter 32:

Max POV:

Just when I think life can't get any worse, look what happens.

My diva fashionista, my Nudge Channel, was gone. She didn't get out of the building in time, and now she was gone.

Gone, _gone, GONE!!_

I buried my face in Fangs chest, and he rubbed my back comfortingly. We were all in the living room of the mansion. Everyone, not just my flock, minus my mom, who was still in the hospital in the coma. Dylan's flock stayed by the door, probably to wanting to intrude, which was a first.

Ella and Iggy were sitting in the armchair, Ella curled up in Iggy's lap with her face buried in the crook of his neck. Ella was hysterical. Nudge was one of her best friends. Jeb stood off to the side, his face sad, and even Mr. Pierpont, who I surprisingly haven't seen in a while, looked upset. Gazzy was sitting on the floor, absently stroking Angel's hair. She was bawling her eyes out, but he looked as though he didn't believe it. Fang and I were sitting together on the sofa. I was crying into his chest quietly. The School has thrown a lot at me over the years, but this was just plain unnecessary.

I let out a shaky breath, and sighed. "I'm going take a shower." I muttered to Fang, and he nodded.

I walked through the long empty halls and to my room. I grabbed my pajamas, and threw them on the bathroom counter, then turned on the shower. I looked at myself in the mirror. I looked horrible. Not just from crying over Nudge, but from the exhaustion at the School.

I looked away. I hated seeing myself looking so weak.

I stripped off my clothes, and got in the shower, letting the steaming hot water run over me and my soar wings. I still didn't know if I could use them or not, but I wasn't planning on trying anytime soon either. I washed my hair, and body, and shaved, because I felt, to put it plainly, disgusting.

I got out of the shower, and wrapped myself tightly in a towel, and dried off. I wiped out the damp mirror, and I saw that I still looked like crap, but not as much as before. I slipped on my clothes, a pair of shorts, and one of Fang's shirts that I had "borrowed". He didn't really care.

Yes, I sleep in his clothes. It was comfortable, especially since I was so sore.

Don't like it?

Sue me.

I dried my hair, and stepped out of the bathroom, glancing at the clock on my way out. I had been in the shower for almost two hours.

Fang was lying on my bed, eyes closed, waiting for me. There was a plate of food on the dresser next to him. My stomach growled. I hadn't eaten in a _long _time.

He opened his eyes and smirked at me. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at him, and sat on the edge of the bed. He sat up behind me, and took the food, handing it to me, "Thought you might be hungry."

I nodded, taking it from him and starting to eat, not even noticing what I was eating. I ate my food slowly, but finished it in a matter of minutes. I put the empty plate back on the dresser and got up to brush my teeth.

Fang followed me, and leaned against the bathroom door.

"I know what you're thinking Max." he said as I brushed my teeth. I ignored him and spit out the toothpaste, rinsing my mouth out with water.

I spit out the water, and wiped my mouth. "Oh, really. What am I thinking?" I turned to face him.

His eyes narrowed. "You're blaming yourself for what happened to her."

I automatically lowered my eyes from his gaze. I didn't even try to deny it. "So what if I am? It's not like it matters! It's not like it'll help! Because no matter what any of us do, Nudge will still be _dead_!"

I felt unwanted tears slip from my eyes and I turned my head away from him. I saw him flinch at the force of my words.

He turned me around and made me look at him. "Exactly. Blaming yourself, and putting yourself through all this torture isn't going to bring her back. So what's the use in it?"

I pulled away from him and pushed past him out of the bathroom. I went to the door to my room, heading out to put the kids to sleep. But before I could even get out of the door, Fang appeared behind me and pressed it closed. "They're already asleep Max." he said, knowing what I was thinking. I involuntarily flinched at how close he was. His chest was pressed up against my back, and –

Whoa, snap out of it Max. This is definitely not the time to get all hormonal.

I shook my head, and moved away from him. I sat on the edge of my bed, and put my head in my hands. "I don't know what to do anymore Fang." I said. "Everything's… falling apart. Everything's going crazy. I'm only one person, and I can only take so much. I can't take this anymore. It's too painful."

I mentally slapped myself for admitting so much weakness.

_Of course it's going to be painful Max. No one said the ride was going to be easy._

I nearly screamed in frustration. Can you say, _horrible timing_?!

_**You know, Voice. I really don't have time for all the fortune cookie stuff, so if you could just leave, or whatever it is you do, it would be nice and greatly appreciated.**_

The Voice was silent, and I sighed.

"Max?" Fang was in front, bending down to my level.

"What?" I looked up at him.

"I just said your name six times." He said, raising an eyebrow at me.

"Oh," I shook my head. "Sorry. I was talking to the Voice."

"What'd it say?"

I shrugged. "Nothing to important. Just stuff to get on my nerves."

He looked at me questioningly, but left it at that. He shook his head, and wiped some hair out of my eyes. "Maybe you should be getting some sleep."

I sighed, (he's an over-protective fool) but got under the covers, leaning against the headboard. "Happy?"

He laid down on the bed, his head in my lap. "Now I am."

I shook my head, and shot him the bird. He closed his eyes and I ran my hands through his hair. It was like running my hands through pure silk…

Okay Max, you can do it. Keep the hormones in check.

I ran my hands across the contours of his face. His cheek bones, his chin, his eyelids, his nose, his soft lips…

Forget I said that. Ugh, I really have to stop.

I leaned down and kissed him lightly on the lips, and rested my forehead against his. I pulled away, and continued running my hands through his hair, leaning against the headboard.

He opened his eyes and glared at me. He sat up, and pulled me forward, resting our foreheads against each other. "That wasn't fair." He muttered.

"So?" I said, fighting back a smirk.

He leaned forward, and…

_Knock, knock, knock._

He cursed loudly, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Max?" Angels little voice came from the door.

I pushed Fang away and went to the door. Angel stood there, in her little nightgown, clutching at Celeste, tears running down her red face.

I kneeled down to her level and hugged her to me. She wrapped her skinny arms around my neck, and cried into my shoulder.

"Sh. What happened sweetie?" I asked her, picking her up.

"I had a bad dream." She cried.

"It's okay. Shhhh, it was just a dream." I told her, rocking her back and forth.

It felt strange, rocking her back and forth like that. I hadn't done that to Angel in years.

She lifted up her tearstained face to look at me. "But it wasn't a dream Max. It was real." Her voice shook and was thick with tears. She buried her face into my neck.

I looked at Fang and raised an eyebrow, as if to say WTF, and he shrugged.

"What was it about, sweetie?" I asked her.

She shook her head, not answering. I gritted my teeth in frustration. How was I supposed to help if she wouldn't tell me?

"I don't like being here in Africa Max. I don't want to stay here anymore." She said, her voice muffled by my shoulder.

"You and me both, Ange. But we have to stay here for a little while longer, okay?" I told her.

She nodded into my shoulder, and sniffed.

I nodded to Fang, and he stood up. "Come on. We'll talk about it tomorrow morning. Okay?"

She nodded again.

I handed Angel to Fang, and she buried her face in his neck. "I need to have a little conversation with Jeb and Mr. Pierpont." I told them, rubbing Angel's back.

"Bring her back to bed and make sure she gets to sleep." I told Fang.

He nodded.

"No!" Angel cried out.

Fang and I looked at her. "I don't want to stay in there!" she yelled.

"Go deal with Jeb." Fang told me. "I'll take care of her."

I nodded, and walked out, towards Jeb's room.

I wanted answers.

I wanted them _now._

And if Jeb was the only one who could give me answers…

So be it.

* * *

**R&R! I don't know about you, but I loved the Faxyness in this chapter! Oh, and if you're wondering, you will find out in either two or three chapters why Angel didn't want to go in her room by herself.... And, I think that's it! Oh, and if you haven't voted in the poll, please go vote! It'll only take like, five seconds. Review!**


	34. Chapter 33

**OKay, this is kind of short, but I wanted to put it up here mostly because I was bored, and wanted to entertain my dear readers!!!!!**

**R&R**

* * *

Chapter 33:

Max POV:

I walked as fast as I could to Jeb's room.

My plan was to walk up, don't bother knocking, slam the door open, and start yelling at him.

Good plan, right?

Yeah, I thought so too.

But, of course, I didn't get to execute my plan, because when I was about to kick the door open, I heard voices, so of course, being me, I decided to listen in.

"…wasn't supposed to happen!" said Jeb's voice.

"Well, it did, and there's nothing we can do about it now!" said the voice of Mr. Pierpont. "We can't change the past!"

"You went too far with this one Nino. I think of everyone In Max's flock like my own kids. Losing her was like losing one of my own."

There was hesitation on Nino's side.

"What? What are you not telling me now!?" Jeb asked angrily.

Samantha's voice entered the conversation. "Oh, just tell him. It's not like it'll kill him."

Melissa's voice came next. "It's not like he'll do anything. He was bound to find out sooner or later."  
Dylan's voice entered the conversation next. "They have a point Nino. Just tell him."

"Tell me what?" I could just picture Jeb's angry red face, and clenched teeth. Trust me, I saw it a lot when I was young. "Tell. Me. _What_?!" he repeated.

"Now is not the time to tell you. You are part of this puzzle as much as Max is. You know that Jeb." Said Mr. Pierpont.

"What are you hiding from me?" asked Jeb.

It was quiet in the room.

"Hiding from you? Nothing. We aren't hiding anything. Everything you need to know is in front of you, if you'd only look hard enough."

Ugh, more fortune cookie crap. It felt like I was listening to…

…

…

_No. Freaking. Way._

Was Mr. Pierpont the Voice?!

I listened closer to what was being said.

"Half of the things that have been happening have been random. Valencia having a seizure, Max getting that chip, Gazzy getting kidnapped, Nudge… None of this was supposed to happen! I was never aware of any of this!"

"There are a lot of things you aren't aware of nowadays, Jeb. Your age is getting to you. Many of the things you knew are now old news, and do not apply to the things that are happening now." Mr. Pierpont said.

"Well, obviously! The flock is my responsibility! I think I deserve to know what you're doing to them!" Jeb shot back.

"The flock isn't your responsibility Jeb, and believe it or not, it never was. You may have raised them for a big part of their lives, but that doesn't mean you are responsible for them."

"The hell I'm not!"

"I –"

"Um, guys?" Cody's voice said.

They must have waved him off, and continued talking again.

"We cannot negotiate on this Jeb. I cannot tell you." Mr. Pierpont said.

"Then who can? Because I'd really like to know what the hell is going on."

"Guys?" Cody asked again.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out sooner or later, Jeb." Mt. Pierpont.

"If I could easily figure it out, do you think I'd be here? And I still have no idea how _they_ fit into the puzzle!" Jeb yelled.

"I have told you time and time again Jeb that their purpose is to replace the original flock if something happens to them. This flock is more advanced than the original, so if the original fails, the advanced flock won't."

"I don't care! I always knew you were hiding something before we came here, but I had no idea what it was until I entered this house! Jeb hissed. "Yes, the advanced flock was supposed to take over if the original fails, but the two were never supposed to meet!"

"You know it was the purpose of them to meet all along, even if it was only the two leaders, for obvious reasons." Mr. Pierpont said, his calm voice getting angrier at the second.

I shuddered, knowing what he meant.

"Dylan may have been made to be her perfect match but Fang is naturally her soul mate. When the flock was created, it wasn't intended or even thought of that Max would have someone like Fang, but it ended up happening anyway. What they have is true love. What Dylan and Max have is forced by _you._" Jeb said.

"That is not true!"

"Yes, it is! I have more of an interest in the flocks lives than you do, and you act like you own them! They are human beings! They have feelings, and lives! They're just kids! And no kid deserves this! They are like my family, so _WHAT ARE YOU NOT TELLING ME ABOUT NUDGE!?!?_"

"Jeb, that little girl Nudge is –"

"_GUYS_!!" Cody's voice yelled out.

"What?!" Jeb and Nino yelled at the same time.

It was quiet, and I figured that that was my cue to enter.

I swung the door open, and walked in, arms folded across my chest. Everyone in the room (Dylan's flock, Jeb, and Nino) were staring at me with wide eyes. Except Cody, who had to have read my mind to know I was standing behind the door.

I turned to Nino, who was sitting in a chair in front of a small desk. "So, you wanna go ahead and finish that sentence?"

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**Oooh, wonder what Nino was going to say... hmmmm...... R&R**


	35. Chapter 34

**Hola people! Sorry for the late update. I have a lot going on at home, plus, our other computer broke, and my mom's been hogging this one. But I finally got on to update for my amazing fans!!!! Yay!**

**R&R**

Chapter 34:

Max POV:

_(Previously:)_

_I turned to Nino, who was sitting in a chair in front of a small desk. "So, you wanna go ahead and finish that sentence?"_

"Max," Jeb said, trying to turn my attention away from the fact that they knew something about Nudge that they weren't telling me about. "We thought you were –"

"Can it Jeb. If I were you, I wouldn't come within a few feet of me. You are _not _one of my favorite people right now."

He automatically stepped back a step. Smart guy.

Mr. Pierpont stepped up. "Max!" he said, trying to salvage the situation. "Speak of the devil and the devil shall appear!" I raised an eyebrow at him. "We were just talking about you!"

I snorted. "No, really? I hadn't realized! I thought you were talking about the latest fashion trends!"

Nino and Jeb shared a look. "Listen Max –"

"Don't you 'listen Max' me." I turned to Jeb. "You have a lot of nerve Jeb Batchelder. And you know what, I could have sworn we already had this conversation before. You have no power over me. You never did Jeb! You never had power over any of us! So how _dare _you say that we are your responsibility! The flock is my responsibility, and I am responsible for myself!" I screamed at him.

I glanced over to my right, where Nino Pierpont was trying to sneak behind me to the door, probably not wanting to get punched again. "_SIT DOWN!!!_" I hissed at him. Everyone flinched at the hatred in my voice.

Nino backed up quickly.

"What are you hiding? What are you not telling us about Nudge?" I asked strangely calm.

He looked at me, his eyes showing no emotion, but he kept his mouth shut.

I clenched my teeth. "I swear to god, if you don't tell me, I _will_ kill you." Everyone gasped, waiting for his reaction.

He muttered something under his breath.

"What?"

He glanced at me, and mumbled something a little louder, but being how close I was, and with my raptor hearing, I heard him clear as day.

_She is alive._

I narrowed my eyes at him. "She didn't get out of the building. We saw it blow up ourselves."

"How do you know she didn't get out?" he asked me calmly. "There are a lot of people in that building, who could have easily captured her and taken her away before the bomb blew up."

"How can you be so sure?" I asked suspiciously.

"I can't."

I stared at him. "Do you know where she is?" I asked slowly, not believing.

"I don't know anything. I don't know how she is, where she is, what condition she's in… anything. All I know is that she is alive… For the moment."

"This is unbelievable." I muttered, shaking my head.

_Believe it Max._

My head shot up to Mr. Pierpont. _**So, you're the Voice.**_

_No, Max. I am not the Voice, but like Jeb, I can do the Voice._

_**How do you know that she is still alive? It's not possible.**_

_Ah, But it is. Anything is possible Max. Always remember that._

I sat up quickly, my hand over my heart. Fang, who was sitting next to me on my bed, was updating his blog.

_What the hell?_

"You alright?" he asked me.

I wiped my sweaty face, and glanced at him. "What happened?"

His forehead scrunched down in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"How did… What… We were just… I just…" I stuttered. Could it have all been a dream?

"Max, what are you talking about?" he asked.

"How did I get here?" I asked.

"Well, let's see. Your mom and Jeb decided that –"

"Please, don't give me that mental image, and that's not what I meant." I said, smirking unintentionally.

He smiled that smile that I love. "Everyone was in the living room "mourning" and you fell asleep with your head in my lap. I carried you up here so you would be more comfortable. Everyone else already went to sleep."

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"You alright?" he asked again with concern.

"Yeah. I just had the weirdest dream." I explained what I had dreamt of. "It seemed so real."

"It was just a dream Max. I wouldn't worry too much about it." He wiped away some hair covering my sweaty forehead.

"It was just…" I shook my head, and stood up, heading to the bathroom. "I'm just gonna go take a shower." I told him.

He nodded, watching me walk into the bathroom with concern.

I took my shower quickly, shaving and washing my hair. I think I was in there for a total of five minutes, ten minutes tops. That should be like, a record, or something.

I walked out into the bedroom, drying my hair as I walked.

"That was fast."

I shrugged, climbing under the covers next to him, and resting my head on his arm.

"It was just a dream Max. It wasn't real."

"Real or not, it was still pretty freaky." I told him.

He closed his laptop and set it on the floor next to the bed.

"Well, maybe you should –"

"MAX!!!! Max, Max, Max, Max, _MAX!!!!!!!!_" Angel burst through the door, a wide smile on her face.

"What is it Angel?" I asked, running my hand through my hair.

"It's Nudge! She's here! In the living room! And she's alive!"

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** Okay, I'm not stupid, so I know for a fact a lot of you are thinking "WTF was that!" right about now. I just thought it would be a sort of surprising twist in events. :D**

**And what about Nudge? Alive? OMG!**

**Review!**


	36. Chapter 35

**Here's the next chapter! Please don't hate me after this chapter! Trust me, everything will fall into place... Maybe.**

**Review!**

Chapter 35:

Max POV:

Nudge? Here? _Alive?! _Without a second glance, Fang and I jumped up from the bed, and ran down the halls as fast as we could. We ran into the living room, with Angel following close behind us. Maybe it was just me, but her smile seemed kind of forced.

We burst through the doors of the living room, and I nearly screamed.

Oh, Nudge was here alright. Along with Gazzy, Iggy, Ella, and everyone in Dylan's flock, who were tied up and scattered on the ground, except Cody and Kevin, who were standing next to Nudge. Nudge was standing in front of a bunch of the New Threat, including Sam, who was at the lead. Brigid was there also, and she was holding onto Sam's arm. That slut. They were all staring at us with hatred in their eyes, except for Nudge, whose eyes were a mix of anger, pain, and sadness.

Of course, Jeb and the other adults were _nowhere _to be seen…

Fang and I both tried to back up through the door to get away, but a force of some kind immediately stopped us. _Angel._

Angel walked in front of us and toward Nudge, smiling angelically at her and Kevin. Angel didn't even look at any of us, she just walked out, holding hands with one of the New Threat on one side, and Cody on the other. I mentally shuddered, but didn't let my sadness and disappointment show.

"Why?" I asked Nudge. "Why, after everything I did for you, the _both of you,_ would you go behind my back and BETRAY YOUR OWN _FAMILY!_"

Her eyes flashed with pain, but it was immediately gone. She was still weak.

"Don't do this Nudge. I already lost you once when I thought you were dead." I told her, trying to convince her.

"Why didn't you look for me?!" She finally screamed at me. "I almost did _die! _I was in so much pain…I THOUGHT ALL OF YOU WOULD COME AND RESCUE ME!!!! BUT YOU DIDN'T, AND NOW YOU STILL CONSIDER YOURSELF MY FAMILY!!!!?? HOW COULD YOU NOT LOOK FOR ME?! HOW???!!!"

I was speechless. "Nudge –"

"DON'T YOU DARE "NUDGE" ME!!! I'M NOT YOUR LITTLE GIRL MAX!!!"

I tried to keep my voice calm, as I talked. "Well, then what am I supposed to call you? Nudge is your name."

She shook her head, and wiped her red wet eyes. "No, it's not. My real name is Sasha. They," she pointed to the New Threat behind her, "helped me find my real parents, unlike you."

My eyes widened a bit, and so did everyone else's at this new piece of information.

"Okay then, Sasha. You saw that explosion first hand. No one could have survived that."

"Well, I did." She said bluntly. "And so did they." She pointed at Sam and everyone behind her.

I was kind of proud of myself for remaining this calm. "We're sorry, Nu-Sasha. We didn't know. That explosion was –"

"I DON'T _CARE _WHAT THE EXPLOSION WAS!!! I LIED THERE FOR AT LEAST A DAY!! I ALMOST BLED TO DEATH! I ALMOST STARVED TO DEATH!!! I THOUGHT YOU WOULD COME LOOK FOR ME, BUT YOU DIDN'T!!!! YOU LEFT ME THERE!!!!!" She screamed.

"Nu-Sasha –"

"NO!! YOU CAN'T GIVE ME ANY EXCUSE!!! I SAW YOU THERE!!!! I SAW YOU LEAVE, MAX!! I CALLED AFTER YOU, AND YOU LEFT ME THERE TO _DIE_!!!"

"THAT IS NOT TRUE!!" I clenched my teeth to the point where it hurt.

"YES, IT IS!!!" We were both breathing hard.

_**Look at her back Max.**_ The Voice said in my head.

I let my eyes trail over her to the part of her back that I could see. It was… flat.

My eyes widened. "So, that's why." The pieces of the puzzle came together in my head.

"Nudge," she glared at me because I didn't use her real name. "I know why you're doing this." Everyone sent me confused glances. "It doesn't have to be this way Nudge. We can do something about it."

She shook her head, and turned around, walking away, waving her hand as if to say, "good riddance."

The New threat came forward, and bound Fang and my hands. Now, normally we would have punched them or something already, but Angel was still holding us hostage with her mind… Wow, was _that_ a weird sentence.

"I know why you did it, Nudge!" I called after her. "And it's only a matter of time before everyone else finds out too."

She hesitated a step, but then started forward again.

"Look at her back." I told everyone loudly, so Nudge would hear me.

She spun around to face us so no one could see her back, where her wings were _supposed _to be. Her expression was angry, but her face was blood red with embarrassment.

But it was too late. Everyone saw, and they all stared at her in pity.

"They cut your wings off without your permission, didn't they, Nudge." I asked her.

She shook her head. "Shut-up Max."

"No, they cut them off, and the only way you would give them back to you is if you betrayed us, am I right?"

Her eyes flashed dangerously. "Max…" Her voice trailed off threateningly.

I turned to the two flocks. "That's why she betrayed us. Do you remember when Brigid left us that note about a traitor being in the flock? That wasn't Nudge, it was Angel, because if one of the flock would have been thinking something that would be traitorous, Angel would have known, and if she wasn't the traitor, she would have stopped them."

"Shut. Up." Nudge said.

"But no one else was the traitor. She was. This was her plan all along." I told them, ignoring Nudge. "It was perfect. We thought Nudge was dead, so we left, because we knew we wouldn't be able to find her. But we were wrong, obviously. She was alive the whole time, and they found her, and took away her wings. They _brainwashed _her, so she would think that we didn't care about her, and they brainwashed her into thinking that we hated her, and could do without her, and would hate her if she didn't have her wings."

"_Shut! Up!_" Nudge yelled at me, stepping forward.

I sent a death glare at her, and she flinched, but didn't back down. "So this is why she betrayed us. Because she wants her wings back, and it was the only way to get them back. She doesn't hate us. At least, not completely."

"_I SAID SHUT THE HELL UP!!!!!_" She stepped forward, and punched me straight across the jaw with a force that would have made Sylvester Stallone, and Arnold Schwarzenegger put together look like the Pink Energizer bunny.

The force of it knocked me to the ground. I gritted my teeth, not showing the pain.

I didn't stand, but stayed in my position, knowing that if I got up I'd be knocked down again. "The same story goes along with Kevin. But Cody… he's been with Angel from the start. Ever since they met." I could feel Kevin glaring at me.

"They've been planning this from the beginning." I stood up as I finished. "And without realizing it, we helped them."

Nudge glared at me, and stalked outside, not bothering to deny it. Kevin followed her, glaring at his flock.

Silence enveloped all of us as this sunk in.

"Very good Max." A highly _un-_angelic voice spoke. We all turned to look at the door, where Angel was standing.

I didn't speak.

"I _told _you over and over again that I should have been the leader of the flock."

"And please explain to me how this will help you become leader of the flock, because it's beyond me." I snapped sarcastically.

She nodded to two of the New Threat that were holding Iggy and Gazzy, and they pulled them to their feet. Gazzy didn't look at his sister.

"I know I won't be. And I really don't want to anymore. I'm onto bigger and better things."

There was silence all around us until Iggy and Gazzy both said in unison, "That's what she said."

Despite everything, we all burst out laughing. All of us, even some of the New Threat chuckled, but they tried to hide it. The only one who didn't laugh was Angel, probably because she didn't understand it, since, despite being who she thinks she is, she's only six.

She glared at all of us, not wanting us to know she didn't get it, and stalked outside after Nudge and Kevin. Dylan's flock, and Ella were pulled to their feet, and we were all pushed out the mansion door, still laughing.

We were dragged across the large yard, where more of the New Threat were standing around. There were four vans there, and we were all thrown into them. Iggy, Gazzy, and Fang in the first one, Dylan and me in the second one, and the rest of Dylan's flock in the third one. The fourth one must have been where the traitors were.

There were no windows, and there was a small wall-type thing blocking the front so we couldn't get to whoever was driving. The van was completely empty, except for the two of us.

I sat down, and leaned against the side of the van. It started up, and I felt the van lurch forward.

Dylan sat down next to me. "Well, this has been an interesting night."

I rolled my eyes at him, and rubbed my sore jaw. "Really? Thanks for pointing that out Sherlock."

He smiled a somewhat dazzling smile. I blinked and looked away. I shook my head at myself. Control the hormones, Max. Control the hormones.

He put his hand on my knee to get my attention. "Hey, you alright?"

"Yeah. I guess that deep down, even though it kills me, I kind of expected it from Angel. Nudge… now that was a surprise."

"I know how much it hurts to lose one of your flock." He told me.

"Yeah, Cody and Kevin…"

He shook his head. "Not them. I mean, yeah, it hurts, I practically raised them, but I was talking about someone else."

I looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean? Who?"

"It was about a year or two ago when our flock had seven members, back in Seattle in the states." He said. "There was a School there, and we got captured."

"Her name was Susie; she was four, maybe five, but very intelligent for her age, and she was beautiful. She had me wrapped around her little finger. She had bright blonde hair and these beautiful sparkling sea-green eyes. She was the little girl I never had." He stopped for a few seconds, and then continued.

"They wanted some information from me. Information that I didn't have. They didn't believe me, though. They were positive that I knew the information they wanted, but I didn't. They threatened me, trying to get me to tell them, but they wouldn't believe that I had no idea what they were talking about."

"This went on for a while, until they got fed up with just torture. They knew the only way I would crack would be is if one of my flock was in danger. They chose Susie. If I told them what they wanted, they wouldn't kill her. I tried to get them to see that I didn't know anything about what they wanted, but they wouldn't believe me."

"I was in a room with her, and a few Erasers were holding me back, while a few of them held her back. We were both trying to get to each other while they were questioning me. I kept yelling at them that I didn't know anything, but… it didn't work."

"They killed her, in front of me. They used the same formula they use when they give someone a lethal injection, like when people are on the death penalty. Once her eyes closed, they just dropped her there, and they all left. The next day we escaped, and we brought her with us, and buried her. She deserved a proper, well, not _proper, _per say, but a decent funeral. We buried her somewhere in the Rocky Mountains, one of the places she had always wanted to see."

"I'm sorry." I said, not knowing what else to say. "I can't imagine… well, I guess I can. I lost my real step-brother to the whitecoats. When Jeb took us from the School, he left his son there, and they turned him into an Eraser. He died a few months ago."

He nodded slowly. "Well, I'm glad that I have someone that understands about it. You're the leader of the flock, so I know it's probably hard for you."

"Yeah, but you have Melissa."

"True, but I'm not absolutely sure where that's going to go. I mean, I was talking to Iggy the other day and he told me about how he caught her and Fang making out and –"

"_WHAT?!?!_" I yelled.

He flinched. "You… You didn't know?"

"No, I didn't." I said bluntly, crossing my arms over my chest.

"Oops. Apparently I wasn't supposed to tell you that." He rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.

"Oh, Fang and Iggy are so dead." I said, clenching my teeth.

"Max –"

The doors to the van opened, and we were pulled out and thrown onto the ground next to everyone else.

"Is everyone okay?" Fang asked.

There were various yes's, a sure, and an I'll live as responses. I stayed silent.

He looked at me. "Max, you okay?"

I glared at him, and started yelling. "I was forcibly taken from the place I was staying while my mother is in a coma, I have no idea where I am, two of my flock members became traitors, and I just found out that my supposed _boyfriend _was SUCKING FACE WITH ANOTHER GIRL!!!! I'M FREAKING _PEACHY!!!_"

There was silence all around us, and Fang stared at me. Comprehension dawned in his eyes and he opened his mouth to speak.

"Don't bother." I snapped at him as we were all pulled to our feet. "I don't wanna hear it."

You know what?

I can't take any of this emotional crap anymore.

Badass Max is back.

And this time, she's here to stay.

* * *

**Yay! The Max we all know and love is back!!!!!!!!!!**

**Review!**


	37. Chapter 36

**Here's the next chapter!!!! First, a few shout-outs:**

**pottrprincess and MyIllicitLover: Yes, there definitely will be FAXness. I love Faxness as much as the next person, but it's probably the next chapter or the chapter after that. DEFINITELY NOT this chapter. Sorry :( It pains me too. :(**

**3.1415927: For the question, "What was Fang thinking???..." The answer is pretty simple... He wasn't.**

**To everyone who said Yay and Boo for the old Max...: The old Max is definitely back, and badder than ever, and she WILL be paranoid, but not as much as she was in the other books. Suspicious? Yes. Ready to jumpa nd beat someone up at the slightest noise... Not so much as she was before.**

**Finally: To those of you who didn't get the "That's what she said" joke in the last chapter, think about it. THis is Iggy we're talking about. The sexist pig. It'll come to you sooner or later.**

**Now with the story!!!!!!!!!!**

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Chapter 36:

Max POV:

You know, I've been in a lot of torture in my life. "A lot" being the biggest understatement on the planet. I've been tortured, and beaten, and experimented on, kept in a dog cage, etc. But, nothing anyone could have done to me could have prepared me for the heinous, unbelievably horrible torture sent from hell that they now put me through.

I was _handcuffed_ to _Fang._

Apparently, for some strange reason that is unknown to my knowledge, they thought it would be a brilliant idea to handcuff us all together in pairs, like Fang and I were handcuffed together, Ella (why they took her is a mystery to me. Hopefully they wouldn't do anything horrible to her) and Iggy were handcuffed together, blah, blah, blah. And, you know, of course with all the people they could have handcuffed me to, it had to be Fang.

And I know there are probably some of Fangs FANGirls out there, squealing, screaming in jealousy, and/or fainting, out there. Some of you may be saying, "OMG! How can you _not _be happy handcuffed to Fang?!?! He's like, a copy of Adonis or something!!!! He's so freakin hot!!!!! " And I also know there are some of you out there sharpening pitchforks and lighting up torches to come after me with…

All I can say is, GET OVER IT. He is definitely not all he says or thinks he is.

Stupid whitecoats, trapping us together with his big ego.

All I really remember was being blindfolded, having the cold metal of the handcuffs being put on my wrist, and then BAM! We were all squeezed into some stupid little dungeon-type cell handcuffed together. Iggy tried his best to pick the locks but that didn't work out as we would have liked.

I hate my life.

Did I _ask_ for this? No.

Did I _want _this? No.

_Then why in hell is it freakin happening!?!?_

I let out a frustrated breath.

To make matters even worse, everyone else (realize I'm saying everyone _else_ and not just _everyone; _because of course, I wasn't included in this.) decided that it would be just terrific if we have a pair of people take watch , so none of the whitecoats could come in and take one of us without another one of us knowing.

Guess which pair was nominated to have first watch.

God, help me.

So, this pretty much brings us to where we are now. Fang and I, sitting on "watch" together, while everyone else enjoys dreamland. Neither of us had spoken a word to each other since I yelled at him, so that was a plus.

"Max, we need to talk."

I spoke too soon.

Being the stubborn person I am, I chose to ignore him.

"We're going to have to talk about it sooner or later so we might as well get it over with now."

I didn't say anything.

He sighed. "I don't know what Dylan told you, but –"

"Just _shut-up _Fang!" I accidentally said a little too loud, waking up the older flock members, and Ella.

"What's going on?" Iggy asked, sitting up.

"Just go back to sleep." I told everyone.

"Why were you yelling?" Ella asked.

"Fang won't shut-up." I said.

Iggy snorted. "That's a first."

I smacked him upside the head. "Shut-up Ig."

"It's only because she is being an idiot and won't talk to me about what happened." Fang muttered.

"Oh, you wanna see an idiot, Fang? Think about Lissa. That's a perfect example."

"You never even knew her, how would you know what she was like." He shot back at me, while everyone watched us with nervous glances.

"Trust me, I know."

He snorted. "The only reason you didn't like her was because you were jealous."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Well, I can promise you I'm not jealous anymore. And to prove that…" Without giving myself time to think it through, I reached out with my free hand and grabbed Dylan, who was sitting a foot away from me, by the collar and pulled him to me, smashing my lips against his. After a few seconds I pushed him away, and turned to Fang. He stared at me, stunned.

Everyone stared at me with their mouths open.

I clapped loudly so everyone would snap out of their "trances." "Show's over. Back to sleep."

They all exchanged glances and slowly lowered themselves back into sleeping positions, probably not trying to set me off. Soon enough all of their breathing slowed enough for them to actually be sleeping.

I looked back at Fang, who was still staring at me, but he wasn't as stunned as before, and he didn't look angry like I thought he would. He looked hurt.

I turned away from him, guilt flooding through my head.

Fang's voice entered into my head. _**That was low even for you.**_

I squeezed my eyes shut, and blocked my mind from him.

_**He's right, you know.**_

_It was a spur of the moment thing._ I told the Voice. _I wasn't really thinking._

_**Obviously. Good luck patching this one up.**_

I shook my head, and the Voice didn't say anything else.

"At least now you know how I felt when I found out you were making out with her." I muttered to him.

"Yeah, but I didn't kiss her Max. She kissed me."

I scoffed.

"It's the truth. Ask Iggy. We were talking and she told me that she and Dylan broke up because of you, and then she just kissed me. I swear I had absolutely nothing to do with it." He said, his voice pleading.

I didn't look at him. "Why are we fooling ourselves Fang?"

"What do you mean?"

"Why do we keep doing this to ourselves? We both know this isn't going anywhere between us, so why are we fooling ourselves?"

"Max, we –"

The cell door creaked open, and there stood the two people I least wanted to see on the planet. _Lissa and Sam._

I kicked Dylan to get him to wake up. He glanced at the two at the door, and then started kicking every one else awake.

"Don't worry." Lissa said, her voice soft and menacing. "No need to wake up on our account." Lissa walked in, Sam following closely behind her, and the two of them pulled Fang and me to our feet.

Everyone else immediately stood up and crouched into fighting positions.

"Relax." Sam shrugged. "They'll be right back. We just need to have a little chat."

They pulled us out of the door without saying anything else, and quickly locked it. "Nice to see you both again." Lissa said conversationally.

"Wish I could say the same." I muttered, rolling my eyes.

"I could never understand why you didn't like me, Max. We could have been such good friends." She told me, shaking her head.

I snorted. "Doubt it."

"Well, I guess I can't blame you." She said, talking like the two guys weren't even there. "He's very hot, and an awesome kisser."

"I've had better." I mentally snorted. Yeah, right Max.

"Yeah, you have." Sam said. "Me."

I shook my head. "I shouldn't have said that."

"So who's the better kisser?" Sam asked.

"What?"

"You heard him Max." said Fang, smiling. He thought it was funny! "Who's the better kisser?"

"Okay, can we stop having this conversation?" I asked.

"Yes, please. I don't wanna hear about your love lives." Lissa said.

I can honestly say this is one of the weirdest days I've ever had.

We walked around the halls going God knows where, until they finally led us to a small white metal door. They pushed us through, and locked the door behind us.

We weren't the only ones in the room. Angel was there with us, and so were Mr. Chu and Cynthia Bronson, who was talking to two people, a man and a woman, in the back of the room. The man was tall, maybe in his forties, and had black hair and pale olive-colored skin. His eyes were a dark brown color, and had prominent facial features; a strong jaw, and high cheek bones. The woman was his opposite. She was young, maybe in her mid-thirty's, and had bright tan/white colored skin, blonde hair that curled around her face and eyes that looked completely black... Like Fangs. The man and woman looked exactly like Fang.

My eyes widened as I stared at the couple standing in the back.

Cynthia Bronson stepped up to us, and reached down and unlocked the handcuffs. We both automatically rubbed our wrists, and she stepped back.

"Well, I'm glad you could join us." She said.

"Like we had a choice." I muttered.

She ignored me. "I would like both of you to meet two people who I think you both will find interesting." She gestured to the people behind her, and they both stepped forward, a few feet away from us.

The man watched the two of us with an intense but curious gaze, and the woman didn't take her eyes off of Fang. She looked like she was about to cry.

Cynthia Bronson stepped forward, and stared right at Fang. "Fang, I would like you to meet Mr. and Mrs. Elliot. Your parents."

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***sighs* Fang, Fang, Fang... he'll never learn will he...**

**What about his "parents?" Are they his real parents? Or someone the School picked to act as his parents????**

**Review!!!!**


	38. Chapter 37

**I am sooooooooo sorry for not updating! I've just been really busy and suffering from a huge case of writers block! But, obviously, that's all over!**

**Shout-outs: Bubbley-chan: Yes, the pairing is Max X Fang, with a teensy bit Iggy X Ella. Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Nazzy either. It's kind of creepy. I wasn't actually going to hold the chapter hostage, because that's just mean. Last but not least, you'll find out about the age thing with Fang's parents. If my math is correct for the way I wrote about her age in this chapter, she should be about thirty.**

**1-ceth: I didn't want her name to be Monique, and they were never absolutely sure that those papers where they found all that stuff was real, so in this story, her real name isn't Monique. And, just because Angel says she's 7, doesnt mean she really is seven**

**Enjoy the Chapter!**

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Chapter 37:

**(Max) **_(Fang) **(The Voice) **(Angel)_

Max POV:

…Wait, _what?_

Fang's parents? Could it really be them? Or an imposter from the School? Why did they choose now to introduce him to his parents? Would everyone else get to meet their parents? Is this really happening?

These questions and many other rushed through my head swiftly, but one stood above the rest:

If these are really his parents, would Fang leave to go with them?

My heart sped up, and my eyes widened considerably.

Fang?

Leaving?!

It couldn't happen… Could it?

Fang and his "parents" stared at each other, for what seemed like eternity, until the woman lunged forward and surrounded him in a hug, tears flowing freely now. She pulled back and looked at him, touching his face with her hands. I could faintly hear her whispering things like, "It's him, it's really him. It's Zachary, it's him. It's Zach."

The man looked on the verge of tears, but tried not to let them show. He had a bright and happy smile on his face, and pulled Fa –_ Zachary, _who was very quiet, in for a hug. I couldn't tell what he was thinking. His eyes were guarded.

The man didn't really speak, while the woman wouldn't stop talking. Fang didn't say a word, and didn't make eye contact with them.

Since I was so stunned, Sam and Lissa took the opportunity to pull me out the door.

I struggled against them when I realized what they were doing, but they were stronger than I realized.

I realized it was hopeless, so I stopped struggling, and started to ask questions.

"What the hell was that about?"

Lissa and Sam traded glances.

"Okay, if you're not going to answer, then tell me, what was the purpose in handcuffing us together?"

Sam glanced at Lissa, and she shrugged.

"We did that for two reasons. One, it's a bigger target for us, and if you tried to escape, you would slow each other down. And two, we just thought your reaction would be funny. And you didn't disappoint."

I stared at the two of them. "You can't be serious."

He didn't answer.

I clenched my teeth. It was unbelievable. They didn't have anything better to do then to make my world a living hell.

We walked the rest of the way to the cell in silence, and when we got there, the both of them thought it would be hilarious to throw me in.

"Max!" Everyone, well, everyone who I cared about rushed over to my side. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." I sat up, and leaned against the wall.

"Well, what happened? What did they want from you? Where's Fang?" Ella spurted out, sounding like Nudge. My heart hurt to think about her.

"Well…" My voice trailed off.

"What happened, Max?" Iggy asked sternly.

I glanced at him. "Well, apparently Fang's real name is Zachary. Or, Zach for short."

"What are you talking about?" Gazzy asked.

"They –"

I was interrupted as the door swung open, and a dark figure was pushed in.

"Fang!"

We all rushed over to him, and I flipped him over onto his back.

My eyes widened when I saw him. He looked terrible. "Oh, my God, Fang. What did they do to you?"

Iggy checked him over quickly. "He seems fine. Just a few bruises here and there. Max? What the hell happened when the two of you were in there?"

"They introduced us to his parents." I said, not taking my eyes off of Fang.

"_They what?!?!_"

"We met his parents! I'm not even sure they were his real parents!"

"They weren't." Fang's voice entered the conversation.

We turned to him. "What happened? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." He slowly sat up, and touched his split lip, not looking at me.

"Then what happened to you? Everything was fine when I left!" I said.

He finally looked at me, and shook his head slightly. I thought I imagined it. _I'll tell you later. _He thought to me.

I nodded slightly, knowing he didn't want to talk about it.

"They weren't my real parents." He told us, leaning back against the wall.

"How could you tell?" Ella asked.

He shrugged. "Doesn't matter. All that matters is that I figured it out."

Ella was about to question him again, but Iggy stopped her. "You guys are probably tired." He said. "Go to sleep. I'll take watch for now."

Ella huffed, but stayed quiet. She crossed her arms, and leaned back against the wall, trying to sleep. Everyone else followed suit.

And on came the awkward silence between me and Fang.

He didn't look at me, and kept his eyes on his hands. I sat next to him, and leaned against the wall.

**Do you wanna tell me what happened now?** I asked him.

He pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache.

_It's a long story. _He responded after a while.

**We have time.**

I heard him sigh. _When you left, they offered me a deal._

**A deal about what?**

_I could come back here, protect the flock, and never see my parents again. Or I could go with my parents after I help the School stop the CSM._

**It couldn't have been that hard of a choice if they weren't your real parents…**

_They were my real parents Max. I only said that for everyone else's sake._

I thought about it for a second. **So you gave up your parents to come with us.**

_Yeah... I guess I did. You guys are my real family. They told me everything about how I ended up at the School. They gave me to the School, thinking it was a regular hospital, but the reality was she was just ready to get rid of me because she couldn't take care of me. She was sixteen._

I rested my head on his shoulder.**I'm sorry. I know how much that must bother you.**

_It's fine._

We were both quiet for a while. **Why did they beat you up?**

_I thought it would be pretty obvious. They wanted me to help them and, I said no._

We were quiet again.

_**He loves you.**_

**This isn't really the best of times, Voice.**

_**He was telling the truth when he told you about her kissing him. **_The Voice continued as if I hadn't spoken.

**Since when is it your job to play matchmaker?**

_**Do you want me to tell you how to escape, or do you want to keep being sarcastic?**_

**I'm listening…**

_**In exactly six minutes and ten seconds, some of the New Threat are going to come and take all of you out to be executed.**_

Oh, well that's a real day brightener. **That's supposed to mean something to me?**

_**The exact second they release you to terminate you is your only chance to escape. A second late will be the last mistake you ever make.**_

**So if we time it right, we can escape?**

_**Exactly.**_

**So, let's say we do somehow escape. Where would we go after that?**

_**You have to find a way to fly back to the U.S. Jeb and the CSM will have set up a large temporary safe house in Seattle for all of you. You should know where CSM headquarters are.**_

**What about my mom and all of our stuff?!**

_**You will find everything you need at the safe house. Including your mother.**_

**Then when are they coming to –**

The door to our cell swung open with a loud creak, and everyone sat up quickly, immediately on alert. A bunch of the New Threat came in and dragged us out one by one. Uh oh. How could I tell everyone else when to escape?

I heard the quiet clinking of handcuffs being unlocked, and then we were dragged through the long halls and out into the huge yard, where more of the New Threat were waiting. With machine guns.

This wouldn't end pretty.

Come on, Max. Think. How could you get them to know when to fly away? Iggy could carry Ella, and I can take a chance on my wings… But how would I let them know the right time?

I racked my brain as we were pulled slowly across the long yard to the very middle.

Think Max! Think!

_Maybe I could help with that?_My eyes widened as the traitor's voice entered my head.

**Get out of my head. **I said to Angel, putting all of my anger into my words.

_Max, I just want –_

**I don't care what you want! You betrayed us and now you want to help us?!**

_You were wrong, Max. _She rushed to say what she needed to say. _I don't know how but Cody controlled me somehow with his head. He's stronger than me! He controlled Nudge and got them to cut off her wings because you knew she wouldn't betray you! It never was us! It was them! All of them! It was Dylan's flock all along! They betrayed us! How do you think Brigid captured Gazzy so easily?! Dylan was the one who put the poison in his system because Gazzy could have heard if it was Brigid! Didn't it surprise you how easily you convinced Dylan to bring you to The School and give Fang those notes when you left?! It's all been a trick to capture and kill us!_

**Angel are you sure?**

_YES!!! Do you think I'd actually betray the flock like that?!_

**Well…**

_MAX!!!!_

**Well, what do you expect Angel?! Get us out of this and maybe I'll consider **_**thinking **_**about forgiving you.**

_**Already on it. Jump up in the air as soon as they let you go. I'll tell the others.**_

**What about Dylan's flock?**

_I'll try to control them so they can't use their wings. Nudge and I knocked out Cody and Kevin, so they should be out for a while. We're almost outside._

**What about the guns? Got any bright ideas about those too?**

_They're metal. Nudge can control them so they can be jammed. At least, she'll try._

I pushed her out of my mind not wanting to hear her anymore. Should I trust her? Should I trust Dylan's flock?

Should I trust _anyone_?

I snapped back to reality as we came to an abrupt halt in the middle of the field. We were all lined up, side by side, as the New Threat with the guns walked toward us.

Cynthia Bronson, Mr. Chu, Brigid, Sam, Lissa, and everyone else I hated was there watching us, as if they were watching some endangered animal in a zoo exhibit.

Okay, so technically they were, but that's not the point.

It was eerily silent, and I heard the soft and slow creaking of the door being opened. Knowing who it probably was, I didn't turn around.

It was quiet again for a long time, and they still hadn't let us go. Were they planning on shooting us with people still holding us? If so, we were in deep trouble.

"On my count!" Cynthia Bronson's shrill voice cut through the silence. "Arms at the ready!" The New Threat lifted their guns up.

"Aim!"

I felt the person holding me loosen his grip and step away from me; the same with everyone else.

I didn't waste another split second thinking about it. I shot up into the sky, hoping that my flock was following me

_"FIRE!!"_

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**Review!**


	39. Chapter 38

**I am so sorry!!!!! I've just been so busy lately that I haven't had time to update!!!!!! Projects, tests, homework, weddings, a funeral, shopping for bridesmaid dresses, birthdays, cousins being shipped off to the Marines, writers block... I've had so much to do!!!!!! Anyway.....**

**If anyone has any ideas to put in the story, feel free to PM me, or send a review or something. Oh, and Max is kinda sorta OOC in here. Just saying.**

**Enjoy, and make sure you have a box of tissues present if you think you might cry.**

**Happy reading!**

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Chapter 38:

_(Previously :)_

"_On my count!" Cynthia Bronson's shrill voice cut through the silence. "Arms at the ready!" The New Threat lifted their guns up._

_"Aim!"_

_I felt the person holding me loosen his grip and step away from me; the same with everyone else._

_I didn't waste another split second thinking about it. I shot up into the sky, hoping that my flock was following me._

_"FIRE!!"_

Max POV:

You know, it's at times like these when everything is snapped into perspective.

My survival instincts told me to get out of there as fast as I could, but my maternal instincts were screaming at me to turn around. To make sure that everyone was following, unharmed.

So, obviously, I followed my maternal instincts.

As soon as I was out of shooting range, I looked behind me to see the rest of the flock, including Angel and Nudge, following me. On the ground were Dylan's flock, The New Threat who were hitting their guns, trying to make them work, and all of my other "biggest fans."

Make sure you note the sarcasm.

I watched the chaos in the fields for a few seconds before turning away. People were running around trying to find some way to get us back, which was definitely not going to happen again. "Let's get out of here."

"No, Max! Wait!"

I turned to Angel. "What now?! You still haven't given me any proof that I should fully trust you again, so what could you possibly want?!"

"Max, this building is the heart of the whole operation! Why do you think everyone important in Itex is here?! If you destroy the heart –"

"There's no chance it can be able to live." I finished, glancing down at the building again. "Without the heart, it's nothing." The decision was made up in my mind immediately.

"I'm going in." I announced to them.

"No, you're not." Fang's steady voice cut through the tense air. Everyone whipped their heads over to look at him.

"What did you say?" I asked, apparently not hearing correctly.

"You're not going in there Max. You're who's supposed to save the world. Not any of us." He said. "It may help, but deep down, you know as well as I do that saving the world will take a lot more than blowing up Itex. Even if it does destroy it." Without another word he folded in his wings and fell towards Itex.

It took me a split second to realize what he was doing. I cursed and my eyes widened as I remembered Angel's vision. I folded in my wings to fall after him, but before I could fall, Iggy caught me. He had handed Ella to Nudge, who Gazzy was helping support with her newly put back wings. Smart kid. If Nudge had her hands empty, she probably would have gone after Fang herself.

"What the hell are you doing, you moron!?!?" I asked, struggling to get away from him.

"Fang knows what he's doing Max." he said, not letting me go.

"He'll _die_! Don't you remember Angel's vision?!" I kept struggling.

"All the more reason to keep you here!" Iggy yelled. "We can't lose you too."

"LET. ME. _GO!!_"

"He's almost in the control room." I heard Angel say, her eyes unfocused.

"NO!!" I screamed. "LET ME GO IGGY!!! I SWEAR I'LL KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T LET ME GO!!!!"

He held me even tighter, his sightless eyes pained.

"He's there. All he has to do is beat up a few whitecoats, which he's almost done doing, and it'll be over."

I faintly heard Nudge and Ella crying along with Gazzy and Angel.

"Iggy! Turn Max's face away so the trash won't hit her when –"

_B-B-BOOOOOMMMMM!!!!!!!!!_

Iggy turned my face away from the explosion. He flew higher and the rest of the flock followed close behind, tears running down all of their faces, even Iggy's.

"He did it." Nudge whispered, mostly to herself.

"He's gone. I can't hear him anymore." Angel said, sobbing.

I didn't make a sound. I didn't cry, I didn't scream, I didn't do anything. I just stared at the rising dust cloud.

This is Fang we're talking about. He can't be dead. He just can't be. It's not possible.

"Max? Dylan's flock and some of the New Threat escaped." Angel said, her voice thick with tears.

"How do you know?" Iggy asked, immediately taking charge when I didn't answer.

"I heard Dylan's thoughts for a few seconds before he blocked me. Cynthia Bronson got away too. I'm not sure about Mr. Chu."

Iggy nodded. "We should go back to –"

"No." I said, my voice weak. I pushed myself away from Iggy with a sudden burst of adrenaline, and shot downward toward the wreckage.

I landed on a large piece of rubble. I immediately started coughing because of all the dust. Like Africa needed more of this dirt everywhere. I climbed down from the large piece of rock I was standing on, and down through the dust, searching, hoping against all odds that somehow he could still be alive.

Iggy's voice came to me through the dirt. "Max? What are you doing?" He started coughing when he came down a few feet away from me.

"What do you think I'm doing?" I said, turning around and around, searching, and trying to get my bearing of the place.

"Max, Angel's vision. Remember? He can't be –" I cut him off as the rest of the flock landed near us.

"I'm not making the same mistake I did last time, Iggy. Nudge was alive when she was in the building with the bomb, and we didn't look for her, and look what happened. I'm not taking any chances. _I have to be sure._"

He nodded after a few seconds, and went the opposite way, searching. The rest of the flock followed suit. Gazzy with Iggy, so he wouldn't get lost. Angel ran after me, so I wouldn't do anything irrational. And Nudge went with Ella, both of them with determined looks on their faces.

Angel grabbed my hand tentatively, and looked relived when I didn't pull away.

"I'm sorry Max. For everything." She said softly after a few minutes.

I was quiet for a while, thinking. I stopped and knelt in front of her. "I know you are. But, just promise me something."

She gave me a questioning look.

"_Don't. Do. That. Again."_

"I kind of didn't have a choice since Cody controlled me and –"

I gave her a look.

"I promise I won't." She said quickly.

I nodded. "Can you hear anything?"

"No. I'm sorry Max, this is all my fault." Tears ran down her dirty face.

"No." I wiped the tears out of her eyes. "It's not, sweetie. Don't blame yourself."

She sniffed, and nodded, wiping her nose on her sleeve, and I stood, and continued searching for a sign.

Anything.

I don't really know how long we looked for him. At least long enough for the dust to settle and night to fall. The damage to the building was horrible. If you were just looking at it, you probably wouldn't have ever guessed it used to be a building filled with all-powerful wacko's that did experiments on kids.

"Max?" Iggy put a hand on my arm. "We've looked everywhere. The kids are tired, and hungry, and so are you. We're all worn out. He's gone. I'm sorry."

I looked up at Iggy and saw the pain in his sightless eyes.

_**Jeb is waiting for you at the airport when you're ready. He'll take you to Seattle, where your mother will be waiting for you. All of your belongings are already with her.**_ The Voice said quietly.

I looked at my feet. I still didn't want to believe it. I couldn't believe it.

After a few minutes, I nodded and whipped out my wings. "To the airport." I said without emotion. "Jeb's waiting for us there. He'll take us to Seattle where there's a new safe house for us."

They all nodded and we shot up into the sky, headed towards the airport.

Iggy POV:

Poor, Max. I felt so bad for her. The love of her life just died, and she was acting like nothing happened. She was emotionless, not talking to anyone, just staring out the window of the jet, watching the dark sky fly by. We saw Jeb immediately when we reached the airport. He didn't say anything, just motioned us to the plane. He obviously knew.

_Angel?_

**Yeah, Iggy?**

_What's wrong with Max? I mean, I know what's wrong, but I expected her to be crying her eyes out or something._

**She wants to, but she won't let herself. I can't really read her thoughts right now. They're so scrambled and everything. But I think she thinks that if she cries, it'll be like admitting he's… gone. It nearly killed her to get on the plane. Just up and leaving like that…**

_I get it. Thanks. Do you think I should go talk to her?_

She was quiet for a few seconds before answering. **I don't think you should. At least, not now. Give her a while. She needs some time to think.**

_Alright. Thanks Angel._

**No problem. **I felt her leave my head, and I lounged back in my seat.

I glanced around at the other flock members, who were either sleeping, or crying. We were the only ones on the plane, besides the pilot, co-pilot, and flight attendant, so it was nice to have some peace and quiet for a change.

I can't believe Fang was stupid enough to go and do that. Now, he was gone, and we wouldn't ever see him again.

But, on the other hand, he obviously knew what he was doing, since he pretty much saved us, _and_ maybe even a little bit of the world too.

Fang. A martyr.

Who would've guessed?

Max POV:

I remember a few weeks ago, before we even came to Africa, Nudge, Angel, and Ella had made all of us watch Twilight. Worst 117 minutes of my life, let me tell ya.

But, that's not the point. The point is, I remember something that that girl Bella said somewhere near the end of the movie. Something like, "Dying is peaceful. Easy. Life is much harder." Or something like that.

Maybe it is peaceful. I wouldn't know. But it's not easy when you're not the one who's dead. And life… Life is much harder than most people would think.

And my life _sucks._ You can believe that.

The same thoughts were running through my head over and over and over. I could've stopped him. He could still be here if I would've stopped him. It's my fault. It's all my fault.

I squeezed my eyes shut as I felt a few tears slip through them. I wiped them away angrily. _He_ _can't be gone. He just can't be._

By the time we got to the airport in the States, I was completely out of it. I got off the plane in a daze, not paying attention to my surroundings, which was _completely _unlike me. I didn't pay attention to the strained conversations around me as we got into an armored car heading to the safe-house.

As we walked into the house, the first thing that hit me was the chocolate chip cookies smell.

"Mom?" Ella called out.

She stepped through the doorway with Total and Akila at her feet. She looked sickly and pale, with worry lines creasing her forehead, and dark circles surrounding her eyes. Her eyes brightened when she saw us, and she smiled, running to us and hugging me and Ella. "Thank God all of you are okay." She said, tears coming to her eyes. "I was so worried about you." She released Ella and hugged me again harder. "Max, I'm so sorry."

I pulled away, and stormed past her, and everyone else, and up the stairs. Jeb had already told us that our clothes and everything else were already in our rooms, so I went to mine, and plopped down on the bed immediately, throwing my backpack in the corner. I stayed there, staring at the ceiling.

I heard light steps come up the stairs, and the door opened. A bright flood of light filled the room, and my mom stepped in and closed the door behind her, carrying two plates of food.

"I know you must be hungry, so I brought you something to eat." She said, sitting down next to me and placing the food on the bedside table.

I nodded, ignoring my growling stomach.

"Jeb left. He said he had some business to attend to."

I nodded again.

My mom sighed. "Are you just going to keep nodding and not talk to me?"

To shake things up a bit, I shrugged.

"Max…"

"What is there to talk about mom? He's dead. End of story." I said bluntly.

"Yes, and I know how upset you must feel –"

"No, you don't. You have no idea."

"Then explain it to me." She said, crossing her arms over her chest.

I sat up and leaned against the head board, and then grabbed my pillow and rested my chin on it. But I stayed quiet.

She shook her head. "Fine. I can't force you to talk if you don't want to. But make sure you eat something. Starving yourself won't help." She stood, and walked towards the door, but then stopped. "Oh! I almost forgot."

I gave her a questioning look.

"When we took all of your things out of your rooms, we found this in Fang's bedside table drawer." She reached in her pocket and handed me a long thin velvet box. "No one opened it, because we didn't want to be nosy. This was on top of it." She handed me a small envelope that was a little bigger than a matchbox. My name was written on the front in Fang's handwriting.

I glanced at my mom, but she looked just as confused as I felt. She sat down next to me again, curious as to what was inside.

I slid open the envelope and a small piece of paper fell out. It had three words on it.

_Happy Birthday Max._

Now I was even more confused. My birthday wasn't until…

"What's today's date?" I asked quietly.

"June 14th. Why?"

"Tomorrow's my birthday. Not my real birthday, just the birthday I picked for myself." I shook my head. "After all we've been through in the past few weeks, he still remembered my birthday."

I grabbed the velvet box, and opened it carefully. Inside was a small locket. It was in the shape of a heart, with wings sticking out of either side. I opened up the locket, and inside was a picture of Fang and I. It was a few weeks, before we got the news about Africa. We weren't necessarily looking at the camera, though we both had bright smiles on our faces.

Tears ran down my face, and I wiped them away quickly. I gave it to my mom so she could look at it. She wiped her eyes, and motioned for me to turn around. I did, and she clipped the locket around my neck.

"He really loved you Max." She said.

That did it.

I didn't even bother to hide the tears that were rushing down my face. My mom hugged me, crying silently.

"He's such a moron!" I choked out.

She smiled sadly.

I pulled back a few minutes later, even though it felt like hours. "Where's the rest of the flock?"

"Well, it's pretty late, so I'm guessing they ate, and went to bed. I think you should do the same." She kissed my forehead and stood up. "Goodnight Max. Get some sleep."

"I will."

She opened the door and stepped out. She looked over her shoulder and said, "Oh, and Max?"

"Yeah?"

"Just remember that… anything is possible. And things may not always be what they seem."

Without another word, she stepped out, and closed the door.

I fell backwards onto my pillow and thought about what she said. What did she mean when she said 'Anything is possible?' And what about 'Things may not always be what they seem?' I thought back to a dream I had a while ago when the voice had said, 'Anything is possible. Always remember that.'

I remembered Jeb saying what seemed like a long time ago, but in reality was only a couple of months, that this was a test. Was it all a test? Was any of this even really happening? Was this even real?

The whitecoats could have just _gave _us, or even just _me_ these memories. I could still be at the School now for all I know. They could just be doing another test, and I wouldn't have any idea.

So did any of this really happen?

Did Nudge and Angel betray us? Did we go to Africa? Did the whitecoats create a second flock with some guy they made to be my perfect other half? Did Fang die? Does the flock even exist? Did Fang exist? If he did, did he even die?

Could Fang still be alive?

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**R&R?**


	40. Chapter 39

**Hey guys! Sorry for the long wait. I've been really busy. You wouldn't believe the drama going on with my friends right now. Thank God it's spring break!!! :D**

**Thanks to Lilac Rose6 who pointed out that I made a mistake in the last chapter. i made it seem like Iggy was apparently looking around at the flock, and since Iggy's blind, that's kind of impossible. Sorry about that.**

**So, I won't bore you with a long authors note so......**

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Chapter 39:

Iggy POV:

"Iggy?" Angel asked, tugging on my sleeve.

"What's wrong, Angel?" I asked, crouching down to her height.

"I'm worried about Max." She told me. "It's already been a month since… _it _happened, and she hasn't been eating, and the little bit of time that she does sleep is filled with nightmares."

I nodded. "I know, Ange. I'm worried about her too. But… Max is strong. She'll –"

"We need to do something about it before it gets worse." She said.

I sighed. "Angel… it's… complicated."

"How is it complicated?"

I shook my head. "Never mind. How about this? I'll go talk to Dr. Martinez later and we'll see what we can do about Max. Alright?"

"Okay." She said, sounding unsure.

I stood up and slowly headed to where I knew Dr. Martinez's room was. I knew the house by heart. We had been here for over a month so far, without any attacks from anything or anyone. I shook my head. Even though the attacks stopped, Max was getting worse and worse.

I lifted my hand to knock on the door, when I stopped, hearing an urgent but hushed voice talking inside the room. I pressed my ear to the door, listening.

"…getting worse and worse, and I just don't know what to do with her! She has these terrible nightmares, and wakes up in the middle of the night screaming! The younger kids don't know what to do, and poor Iggy. He tries to hold it together as much as he can, but he –" There was a pause, as if she was cut off. She must have been on the phone.

"No. No, I didn't…" Pause. "Well, that's beside the point, Jeb."

_Jeb? _We hadn't heard from Jeb since Fang…

I listened closer. "…Well, how is it supposed to work?" Pause. "I know you found him, but will it work is the question."

Found _who_? _Fang_? Dylan? Mr. Chu?

I could hear the agitation creeping up into Dr. Martinez's voice. "Whatever you do, Jeb, you better do it soon. There's no life in her anymore. It's like she's lost all hope." There was another long pause behind the door.

"Well, the faster he… Yes, I understand. What time will you get here?" Pause. "Alright. I'll see you when you get here." There was a small click as I heard the phone drop onto the receiver.

I waited a few seconds then knocked on her door. "Dr. Martinez? Can I talk to you for a second?" I heard the door open slowly in front of me.

"Sure, Iggy. Come on in."

I stepped past her into her room, and immediately started talking. "We need to do something about Max."

"I know."

I continued as if she hadn't spoken. "She's walking around here like she's a ghost or something. Not eating, barely sleeping, and not talking to anyone… It's like she doesn't even exist anymore!"

"Iggy –"

"It's like she's in denial or something, and –"

"Iggy! I know. I have a sort of… plan worked out. Hopefully, Max will get back to normal after it."

"Oh, yeah? Enlighten me. What's your brilliant plan?"

She hesitated. "I think it would be best if Jeb tells you. He'll be here soon. I didn't really come up with it. He did."

"You and Jeb are hiding something from us, aren't you?" I asked her. "Something about Fang."

"Iggy…"

"What aren't you telling us?" I asked through clenched teeth.

She was quiet.

"Is he alive?"

Silence.

"_Is. He. ALIVE?!_"

She was quiet for a few seconds. "As of right now… no."

I could feel disappointment flood through me. "Wait… what do you mean 'as of right now'?"

"I'm not absolutely sure I can explain it…" She trailed off.

"_Try._" I pressed.

"Well…"

Max POV:

_Faster Max. Faster! You can still save him. You know you can still save him._

_I turned left and right, down the hallways, and up and down flights of stairs. I pushed open door after door. All of them were empty._

_Come on, Max! Concentrate!_

_I turned another corner and entered a large hallway with a single door at the very end._

_My heart beat faster, and I ran forward as if in slow motion. I reached the door and turned the knob after what seemed like years. I pushed the door open to reveal a clean white room filled with machines._

_"Max?"_

_I turned around, toward the door, and saw him. He was there. He was alive. He wasn't dead. He –_

"Max! Wake up!" I shot straight up in my bed, tangled up in my blankets.

"Come on." Said Ella. "Jeb's here. And he wants to talk to you."

I turned over and buried my face in my pillow. "Tell him to leave a message. I'm busy."

"Doing what?" She shot back. "Wallowing in self-pity?"

My shoulders slumped, and she seemed to have realized what she said. "I'm sorry Max. I didn't mean that."

I shook my head, and stood, stretching. I walked out the door down to the living room, not bothering to glance in the mirror to see how horrible I looked. I already knew I looked bad. I didn't need the mental picture too.

The flock was crowded in the living room, and Jeb's eyes widened slightly when he saw me.

"It lives." I heard Total mutter.

I ignored him. "You wanted to talk to me?" I asked quietly.

"Yes, if now is a good time."

"It's as good a time as any. What do you want?" I asked, leaning against the stair railing. The flock watched me carefully, as if afraid I would suddenly snap.

I didn't blame them.

"I've been doing some research and –"

"Jeb, I don't care about your stupid research. The whole 'saving the world' thing is being put on hold. Obviously, as of right now, I am in no condition to be the world's savior."

"If you'd just let me finish, you'll see that's not what I meant."

I waved a hand as if to say, "Continue."

"You said that you didn't find Fang's body after he –"

"Blew up?" I asked bluntly.

Everyone flinched at my tone.

"Well, in a nutshell yes." Jeb said.

"No, we didn't find him. Where are you going with this?"

"A few weeks ago when I left, I could tell you were really upset about Fang."

"No crap, Sherlock. What was your first clue?" I said.

He ignored me as if I hadn't spoken. "But something you said didn't seem right to me. Even with an explosion that big, sure Fang would have been… for lack of a better word, mutilated, but you should have been able to find him."

"Well, we didn't. So? It doesn't change the fact that he's never coming back." I carefully avoided the word _dead._

"That's not necessarily true." Jeb said hesitantly.

I raised an eyebrow at him. Where was he going with this?

"When I left, I gathered a few of the CSM workers, and we searched for him. We found countless of what you call the New Threat, some scientists, but no Fang. There was no sign of him at all. It's like he wasn't even there. We only found a piece of charred black fabric, probably from his shirt, but that was outside, near the entrance of the building. We thoroughly searched for the past few weeks and all we found is the fabric. We especially looked at the location of where he was supposed to have blown up the building, but there wasn't anything. No sign or trace that he was ever there."

I processed this new piece of information. "So what is this supposed to mean?" I asked slowly.

"It means quite a few things. Fang didn't blow up the building for one. Someone else did."

"But I heard him! I heard his thoughts as he fought off the whitecoats and everything! He blew up the building, and I heard exactly when his thoughts ended!" Angel interrupted.

"He must have been feeding you fake images, because Fang wasn't anywhere near that control room when it blew up."

"If Fang didn't blow up the place, who did?" Gazzy asked.

Jeb opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted. "I did."

My eyes widened. It couldn't be. Everyone whipped their heads to the door where he was standing there. I gasped. No. Freakin. Way.

Way to throw another freakin puzzle piece in here Itex/The School.

Alright Max. No more time to mope. Time to be badass.

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**Who can guess who showed up???**

**Here's the deal. I have the next chapter almost done, so if I finish it, I might post it tonight or tomorrow. But if I don't I might not get a chance to post it until like Monday or Tuesday because me and my best friend are going camping with her parents! Yay!**

**So R&R?**


	41. Chapter 40

**I am so sorry guys. You definitely have the right to be mad at me for not updating when I said I would. :( But here's the next chapter. :) It's mostly a filler, so it's kinda short.**

**Congrats to: MayhemandMagic, ZeZe123, and BookHunter for guessing correctly at who showed up in the last chapter! If you guessed correctly, and I didn't put your name in, tell me, and I'll give you a shout-out in the next chapter! :D**

**Shout-out to: mybu - Thank you so much for your review! And about competition for Fang... I had been thinking about that, and I probably will put that in there, and I think I have the perfect idea of how to do it. :D**

**~~Enjoy and Review!~~**

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Chapter 40:

Max POV:

I pushed off from the railing by instinct and grabbed him by the neck, twisting his arm (that was in a sling) around, and shoving his already badly bruised face into the wall.

"After all you put us through, I can't believe you still have the nerve to show your face!" I snarled.

"Max, let him go." Jeb said wearily.

"The hell I will." I said, completely focused on his face. "Give me one good reason I should let him go."

"Because he's the one that blew up the Itex building. Not Fang."

I tensed and hesitated, then unwillingly released him. "Don't make me regret letting you go, Dylan."

"I won't. Trust me on that."

I scoffed, and rolled my eyes.

"I just want to explain, then I'll leave."

"You have five seconds." I said.

He rolled his eyes, and turned to the rest of the flock. It took all my strength not to strangle him, even though that would seem like overkill. He was bruised everywhere, and wherever he wasn't bruised he was covered in scratches. He had a broken arm, and was limping. Overall, he looked like crap. "Look, I'm really sorry. I know that I've put all of you through a lot. Well, I and my flock."

"Well, duh." I muttered.

"They're sorry too. The younger kids thought you'd kill them if they came in, so they stayed a few blocks away."

"Smart kids." I commented.

"I just wanted to say that, yes, in the beginning I was with Itex, but it was for a good reason." He looked straight at me when he said the next part. "They had information on Susie. They said they could bring her back." He turned his gaze to everyone. "Otherwise, we wouldn't have betrayed you like that."

"So, what?" Nudge asked. "You just had a sudden change of heart and decided to blow the building up yourself?"

"Kind of."

"How are you even still alive? That explosion was nearly impossible to survive." Iggy asked him.

"I'm not really sure to tell you the truth. All I know is that I did. Obviously, I didn't come out unscathed, but… I'm still here."

"Did you see Fang?" Angel asked.

Dylan shook his head. "No, I didn't see him."

"Why the sudden change of heart?" Ella asked.

"Max."

All eyes swiveled to me. "Excuse me." I asked him.

"It was something you told me a while back. Something like, not ruining my relationship with my flock." He said.

I nodded remembering what seemed like so long ago:

_~~(Flashback:)~~_

_I stopped and turned toward him. He had a pained look on his face. I went toward him again and stopped in front of him. "Can I tell you something? A little advice?"_

_He nodded. "Sure."_

_"Your flock."_

_"What about them?"_

_"You know a lot of people, just like I do, and some of those people you really trust, but when it all boils down to it, your real family is your flock. Don't make the same mistake I did, and take that for granted. They were my family, my best friends, and look what happened." I gestured to everything around us. "Don't mess up your relationship with your flock the same way I did with mine."_

_He nodded again._

_I turned around and walked toward what I was sure was going to be a living hell._

_And I didn't look back._

"I remember." I said.

He nodded. "I thought long and hard about what you said. My flock hasn't really been much of a flock ever since Susie passed, and I think it's time I changed that." He shrugged. "And I figured blowing up the building would be the least I could do."

"So you didn't see Fang anywhere?" I asked almost desperately.

"No, I'm sorry."

"Did he even go into the building?" Iggy asked.

"Yeah, he did. I'm positive. We saw him go in." I said, pacing.

"There has to be something we're missing." My mom said.

"As I said earlier, finding that piece of Fang's shirt outside the entrance means a few things." Jeb said. "He didn't blow up the building, and we didn't find him. Maybe something else happened to him. Or he did something. Something we don't know about."

"So that would mean…" Gazzy asked.

I stopped in the middle of the room. My head was reeling. Everyone had their eyes glued to me, waiting to see what I would do. "It means that somehow, some way… Fang could probably still be alive."


	42. Chapter 41

**Hey everyone! The reason I haven't updated as soon as I said I would is because I've been grounded for the past week. Sucks, I know. :( But I'm not anymore, so yay!!!!!!!**

**Warning: This chapter is kind of boring, (At least, to me it is.) and Max gets kind of OOC. It's not one of my fav's, but at least it's long, and it's very important to the story. It's mostly a filler... A really long filler, but a filler nonetheless. And before anyone asks, This is not going to turn into a Miggy fic. Fax all the way! Iggy and Max sort of have a brother/sisterly heart to heart chat in this chapter, so... yeah.**

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Chapter 41:

Max POV:

Have you ever had that feeling where you just wanted to crawl into a hole and forget the rest of the world? To just forget all your problems and worries and just have some piece for once?

I was seriously on the verge of going out and finding a hole big enough and doing just that. But as I keep reminding myself, that won't solve any of my problems. My head was bursting with information, trying to piece it all together. Something wasn't right. There was a piece of information or something that we were missing.

But what was it?

I sighed, and rested my head on my knees, tightening the blanket around my shoulders. It was a little past midnight, and everyone else was asleep. Dylan's flock was staying with us for the time being, and everyone was sharing rooms, except Jeb, who had left a few hours before.

And what did all this mean exactly?

That I had to sleep on the couch in the living room

Life really sucked sometimes.

I reached over to and grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV. I turned the volume down so I wouldn't wake anyone up.

"Max? What are you still doing up?" Iggy's voice rose above the sound of the TV about five minutes later.

"Oh, hey Ig. I just couldn't sleep. What about you?"

"Same." He went into the kitchen and I heard the refrigerator door open and close. I heard the stove light up, and about five minutes later, he walked into the room with two cups of hot chocolate.

"Here." He said, handing me a cup and sitting next to me on the couch, resting his feet on the coffee table.

"Thanks."

We were both silent for a while, and I knew he had something on his mind. Something that he wanted to talk about.

"Max…" he started after a while. "Do you really think there's a chance that Fang isn't…" His voice trailed off.

I thought about his question for a few seconds. "To tell you the truth, I'm not sure." I told him, folding my legs under me. "I mean, there's a part of me that wants so badly for him to be alive and everything. But there's another part of me saying don't get your hopes up, because you'll just get hurt again."

He nodded. "I get it." We were both quiet again. "Do you want to talk about it?" he asked after a while.

"There's nothing to talk about." I said, without emotion.

He didn't say anything, but stared in my direction patiently with his sightless eyes.

"You know what I would tell him, if he were here now?" I asked him, after a while.

"What?"

"I would tell him that he was the most stubborn, pig-headed, no good, rotten, idiotic, egotistical_, selfish, hard-headed, obstinate, careless, insensitive IMBECILE _I've ever had the discourage to lay _eyes_ on. He's the most _senseless, irrational, stupid moron I've ever seen!_" I started. "He's psycho! He shouldn't have done something like this! Look what it did to the flock! Look what it did to _me_. _His supposed girlfriend. _And he just up and left and got himself blown up!"

Iggy flinched. "Max, calm –"

"Don't tell me to calm down or I swear to God, I'LL RIP YOUR ARM OFF!" I whisper-yelled, almost forgetting that everyone else was still sleeping upstairs. I was really getting into it now. "He had no idea what he was doing, and look where it got him. Now he's either dead or missing. And he better hope he's dead, because if I ever get hold of him while he's alive, I'll _kill_ him."

"Max…"

"He had to have known how much it killed us to watch him when he went into that building. He made his stupid decision so quickly, he didn't even think it through. He doesn't think about these types of things, he just goes out and does them! There could have been a better way if we would have just thought it through. If I could've stopped him –"

"If you would've stopped him, Itex would probably still be standing."

"But at least we would all be safe, and _alive._" I said, standing up, putting the cup on the table, and pacing across the room, running my hand through my hair.

"You never really made up with him after you found out that she kissed him, did you?" he asked, knowingly.

I stopped in front of him and sighed, nodding. Then I remembered he couldn't see. "I'm nodding Ig. We never actually fully talked it out. But he could tell I was p.o'd at him. And I never got the chance to tell him how much it hurt. How much it hurt to know that someone else had kissed him. How much it hurt being mad at him… But I couldn't help it. I don't like to get hurt."

"I think…" I continued. "That that's why I never wanted to get in a relationship with him in the first place. I was afraid of getting hurt."

"Nobody likes to be hurt Max. You're not the only one. Remember when I found my so-called parents back in Virginia?"

I winced. Apparently Virginia was a sore subject for all of us. "Yeah, Virginia wasn't fun for anyone." I paused. "And, yes, I know it rhymed, so don't comment."

He chuckled softly, and shook his head. "That's your problem right there Max."

"What?"

"Even when you were dating Fang, you pushed him away. You might not have known you were doing it, but you were. Whenever you're afraid of being hurt, or hearing something you don't want to hear, you resort to your last resource. Sarcasm. And while at most times, it's pretty funny, there are some things you just have to be serious about."

"Like what?" I asked sarcastically.

"See? There you go again. You know I'm right."

"Since when are you Mr. Serious?" I muttered, walking over to the window, and looking out.

"I can be deep when I want to." He said, shrugging. "Fang loved you Max. A lot. And you know damn well that you loved him just as much. Hell, I'm _blind_, and I can see it. Fang knew what he was doing, and he only did it because he cared about you. Even though he seemed like an emotionless brick wall sometimes, and doesn't like to show his emotions, he has feelings too. You just never paid enough attention."

"How did I not pay enough attention?" I asked, exasperatedly.

"Your sarcasm. You didn't, no, _couldn't_ find the strength to let your guard down _once_, because you were afraid of being hurt. Fang's a smart guy. He knew what he was doing."

"He obviously didn't know what he was doing. It was completely stupid and pointless." I said with my teeth clenched.

"Well, he loved you enough to give up his life for yours. That should count enough for something."

I was quiet.

Iggy stood up and walked over to me, putting a hand on my shoulder comfortingly. "Fang knew what he was doing, Max. Whether you like it or not, you know it's true. But… we don't know if he's really dead, so there's a good chance we might see him again, and you get to tell him what you need to tell him. Maybe you could try to tone it down a little, but that's just my opinion."

"Even the invincible Maximum Ride needs a break sometimes." He continued. "If you're ever around him again in an actual relationship, with him or anybody actually, try to forget about being an avian human whose mission is to save the world. Try, for once, to be a normal teenage girl. You'd be surprised at what could happen."

I ignored him.

He sighed, and said, "Look. Fang was one of my best friends, and in some cases, he still is –"

"I thought Gazzy was your best friend." I muttered.

"Yeah, but I can't talk to Gazzy about a lot of the things I used to talk to Fang about. I mean, would you go talk to Angel about your guy problems?"

I raised an eyebrow at him, and asked, "Did you seriously need to ask that question?"

"Okay, bad example. But that's not the point. What I'm trying to say is, I know how Fang felt about you, and I know how long he's felt like this about you too. I know how much he cared about you, and if Fang did something like this, then he must have known something we didn't know. I know you may not believe it, but he knew what he was doing." He pat my shoulder, and said, "You should get some sleep. It's pretty late and we have a long day tomorrow." He went upstairs and I heard his bedroom door close softly.

Yeah, like I was going to get any sleep after _that._

"If there is even the _slightest _chance we can get him back, I want to know about it as soon as you find out about it, Jeb! You can't just keep things like this from me! You of all people should know that by now." I banged my fist on the kitchen table, and sent him my trademark Glare O' Death.

He flinched.

As you can see, I was in the middle of my favorite pastime.

Arguing with the Jebster.

"Max, I know you don't believe me, but you know as much as I do."

I threw my hands up in the air in frustration. "Lying doesn't really help your case. So I suggest you get on to giving me the information I want, or I swear Jeb, I will kill you once and for all." I said through clenched teeth.

As you can tell, I was pretty pissed.

"Max, chill." Iggy said, coming up next to me, and making me sit down in one of the chairs in front of the table. "Even though you'd be doing the entire world a favor, do you think you can wait to kill him until _after_ we know what we need to know?"

"I already told you that I _don't know anything._"

Dylan came up on my other side. "We all know that's not true." The two flocks came up on either side of me, and my mom and Ella stood off to the side with the two dogs, probably not wanting to get in the middle of this.

It's not like I blamed them of course.

As I stood up and faced Jeb, I glanced around at both sides of me. I have to admit, we all looked pretty badass. But there was something missing. _Someone_.

"Jeb, I wanna know, and I wanna know now. _What. Happened. To. Fang._"

Jeb sighed. "I already told you, I don't –"

I didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence, because I knew I would have exploded if he would have said he didn't know again. I lunged across the table at him, and knocked him out of his chair and onto the floor. I felt his nose crunch under my fist.

You guys have no idea how long I've been waiting to do that.

I felt two pairs of strong arms pulling me back so I wouldn't punch him again. Iggy and Dylan.

I struggled against them, and Angel got in front of me with Nudge and the two of them helped Iggy and Dylan pull me out of the room so I wouldn't rip Jeb to pieces.

They pushed me into the living room and shoved me onto the couch. I started forward again, but they caught me and pushed me back towards the couch.

"Max, killing Jeb won't solve anything. I mean, if we want to get Fang back, there has to be a way we can find him by ourselves, right?" Nudge asked.

Gazzy nodded at Nudge. "It can't be that hard."

I rested my elbows on my knees and put my head in my hands.

Think Max, think.

What are we missing.

**You have all of the information Max, you just need to piece it all together.**

_Now isn't a good time Voice. I'm on the verge of a major mental breakdown here._

It didn't answer.

Okay, Fang didn't blow up the building. Dylan did. Dylan and his flock got out of the building when Fang didn't even go in, and he disappeared. So the possibilities are:

1. Fang could have been killed.

2. He could have been kidnapped/captured by someone/something, and taken somewhere where we may not find him.

3. Fang may be flying on his way here right now. I seriously doubt it, but I can hope.

4. Fang betrayed us and is now working for Itex, which would completely suck.

Personally, I was hoping for number three, but that was pretty much impossible.

If number one was true, then there was no point in looking for him.

If number two was true, then we need to find out where exactly so we can get him back.

If number four was true… I didn't even want to know what I'd do if Fang betrayed us.

Betrayed me.

"Max? Hello??? Max? Earth to Max????"

My oh, so intelligent reply? "Huh?"

"We called you like, six times." Nudge said. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." I told her, standing and ruffling her curly brown hair.

She eyed me suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

I nodded, and walked back to the kitchen calmly, the rest of the flock following close behind me, ready to grab me if I dove at Jeb, who was currently sitting down at the kitchen table again, touching his now patched up nose, courtesy of my mom.

I saw a flash of fear cross Jeb's eyes, but then it was gone quickly. Good. He should be scared. "Max…"

"Save it for someone who cares. I know that you know what happened to Fang. And I know that you won't tell me. To tell you the truth, I don't know why I'm so surprised. You have let me down so many times, and betrayed me _and my _family so much… You keep saying you want me to trust you, but how do you expect me to do that if you're lying to me and keeping things from me?"

I saw the hurt plainly on his face. Everyone else seemed shocked by my words.

"I think it's time that you leave." I said, pointing the way to the door. "Don't bother coming back, because you're not welcome here, and you're not welcome in my life. From now on, as far as I'm concerned, you're dead to me." Everyone's eyes widened and a few people gasped.

It was silent in the entire kitchen. I'm sure if someone would have made a sound, we all would have jumped fifteen feet in the air.

"I understand." He said finally, standing and walking to the door. I watched him leave and he stopped, right under the door frame, the door almost all the way closed.

He didn't turn around when he spoke. "I don't know much, and what I do know, there isn't much I can tell you right now. But I can tell you this: Fang never went into that building. He never even went near the entrance. We never found a piece of black cloth from his clothes. He never even went close to the building. Dylan was the one you saw running inside Itex." Everyone's eyes swiveled to Dylan and back to Jeb.

"Fang never went near the building, and he probably never even went to the ground."

"So what is that supposed to mean?" I asked suspiciously.

"It means that somehow, some way, Fang is still alive. He's not dead, and he probably won't be for a _very _long time." Jeb walked out without another word, and I stared at him in shock. I heard two thumps from behind me, and two people cried out, but I barely heard it. I was in shock. Jeb's words rang through my head over and over again.

_Fang is still alive, Fang is still alive, Fang is still alive…_

"MAX!!!" Nudge's voice yelled out, bringing me out of my thoughts. I turned to her frantic voice, and my eyes widened.

"Iggy!" I ran over to where Iggy was laying on the floor next to Samantha , both of them clutching at their heads. Samantha cried out in pain, and I shook Iggy's shoulders.

"What happened?" I demanded to everyone crowded around us.

"We don't know! A few seconds after Jeb left, she screamed and he yelled and the two of them fell to the floor!" Ella said.

"Angel, can you read their minds?" I asked, automatically going into leader mode.

She shook her head. "No." she said as Iggy cried out again.

"Are they having one of those brain attacks?" Gazzy asked me.

"I don't know!" I said angrily, trying to pry Iggy's hands away from his head as Dylan was doing the same to Samantha. They both stopped moving completely, but kept clutching their heads. I checked Iggy's pulse to find that it was beating normally, and everything else seemed perfectly fine.

"Iggy?" I shook his shoulders a little, and Ella lifted his head into her lap. "Come on, Ig." I shook him again, and his eyes opened a fraction of an inch.

"What happened?" He asked groggily as Samantha sat up, shaking her head.

"What do you remember?" I asked him.

"Jeb was saying something about Fang being alive, and then, nothing." He said. "Ugh, my head." He sat up and opened his eyes, blinked a few times, and stared forward, his mouth dropping open as if in shock.

"Iggy?" I snapped my fingers in front of his face. "Hello? Earth to Iggy?"

He didn't move, and his expression didn't change. Something had changed on him, but I couldn't tell what it was.

Ella shook him a little. "Iggy?"

We all stared at him as his eyes went over all of us, as if seeing us. His eyes stopped on me, and that's when I noticed the change in him. That's when I knew.

His eyes, a few seconds ago cloudy and white were now a crystal clear, icy blue. Our eyes locked, and Angel and I gasped, her probably reading it from my mind.

I heard Dylan ask Samantha if she was okay over and over again, but at this point, I really couldn't care less.

"I'm fine Dylan!" said an unfamiliar voice.

We all looked at Samantha, and her eyes were wide, her hand over her mouth.

"No way." Dylan said under his breath.

I shook my head and turned my attention back to Iggy, as did the rest of my flock. "Oh, my God." I said, looking at his eyes again.

"What is it? What happened?" Gazzy asked, stepping closer with Nudge.

"His eyes." I said breathlessly.

Everyone moved their gazes to his eyes, and some people exchanged glances at the change in his eye color.

He looked at all of us again, and said, "I can see."


	43. Chapter 42

**Yay! Another update! This one was even sooner than even _I _expected. But I realized that since I got off early today, and I'm busy with testing and an English 2 field trip the next few days, I thought it would be cool if I give you this update now rather than later. Just to see what you guys think about it. :D**

**Oh, and btw: There's a paragraph in here that is in all italics, that would be the article she's reading people. My cousin (who's the same age as me) was reading over my shoulder as he's doing now, even though it's super annoying... (Take a hint Josh!) Sorry, anyway, he thought I just messed up, but no, it's the way it's supposed to be, since I didn't want the article to be the same as the rest of the text.**

**Enjoy! :)**

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Chapter 42:

Iggy POV:

Getting my eyesight back would have to be the best thing that has ever happened to me. Nothing else could possibly compare, I can promise you that.

I walked down the hallway to the kitchen examining every inch of the walls. I still couldn't get over that I could see again. But, what kept bugging me is that, why? Why did my eyesight come back? How did it come back?

I shook my head. Who cares really? As long as I had it, I was good. I can't tell you how good it felt to actually see the flock again. They were all almost exactly as I remembered them, just a lot older. And Max… It's not hard to figure out why Fang fell for her.

It's not hard to figure out why I fell for Ella either.

God, I really was a lovesick bird kid, wasn't I?

A soft but angry voice, that I recognized as Max's, knocked me out of my thoughts a few seconds before I reached the kitchen. I stopped and listened. What can I say? Curiosity killed the mutant bird kid.

"– don't know how it all fits anymore! Iggy getting his eyesight, and Samantha getting her voice? It seems like they're throwing in random things just to confuse us!"

"They probably are. That's the point. They're trying to confuse you so you'll give in." Dr. Martinez's voice entered the conversation.

"Well, it's working."  
"Don't say that!" Ella said, speaking up.

"I know…" Max said slowly. "I just… can't do it without my entire flock."

"Max…" Dr. Martinez started.

"I miss him, okay! I think I actually loved him, and now I have absolutely no idea where he is! He could be somewhere in the middle of nowhere bleeding to death in a ditch for all I know.

I heard Ella suck in a breath, but Dr. Martinez stayed calm. "Max, don't say those things. Jeb said –"

"I don't care what Jeb said! Jeb –"

"Is only trying to help." Dr. Martinez cut in. "I know he's hurt you a lot in the past, but, you need to learn to trust him again, Max. He wants to help."

"Oh, please." Max said.

I stepped into the kitchen and leaned against the door frame. "She's got a point you know."

Everyone looked up at the sound of my voice, and Max rolled her eyes at me. "If Jeb really wanted me to trust him, he would have told me where Fang is."

"Maybe he really doesn't know." Ella said.

"Do you really expect any of us to believe that?" Max asked her. She pushed away from the table where she was sitting, and pushed past me and up the stairs to her room.

Dr. Martinez sighed, and shook her head. "Terrific."

"She's just upset that she's stuck here and we have no idea where to look for Fang. She'll come around soon." I told her.

Hopefully.

Max POV:

I stalked into my room angrily. I hated sitting around doing nothing while one of my flock could be in danger. I snatched Fang's laptop off of my desk and sat cross-legged on my bed. I opened up the internet and started searching for anything and everything. Fang's blog, the School, Itex, the Institute, Cynthia Bronson, Mr. Chu, etc. The only thing I found was an address for an abandoned building in D.C. that Cynthia Bronson owns. But that didn't… really……

Oh, my God.

I clicked on the link and wrote down the address, skimming through the article that was attached. I caught glimpses of words like experiment, death, investigation, Itex, Chu Corporations, Roland Ter Borcht… I skimmed through the rest of the article, and ended at two pictures of the building. One in the 1990's when it was up and running, and one that was more recent, where the building was burnt and crumbling.

I read the article again and again, until I had literally memorized it.

_Police are still ongoing with their investigation of the fire that burned down the office of Dr. Cynthia Bronson. According to a police officer in the area, who prefers to remain unnamed, arson is suspected in the death of this great scientist and her colleagues. Dr. Bronson has been working with Itex and Chu Corporations on the matters of global warming, and on ways to stop it before it becomes an untamed threat to our society. Dr. Bronson has also been known for her working with Roland Ter Borcht, the brilliant German geneticist who was recently arrested for suspicion of sinister experiments done on humans, and also one of the leading scientists of Itex Corporation. Due to the fact that the investigation is still ongoing and that it was owned by one of the world's most brilliant minds, the building will _not_ be torn down, but will stay standing. Although in shambles and seemingly ready to collapse, the building will stay, remain unused, and be a reminder to all society that even the smallest and simplest of people can help save the world._

"What are you reading?"

I jumped at least a foot in the air at the Gazzy's voice, which startled me from my thoughts. He looked over my shoulder and looked at the computer screen. I turned it away from him. "It's nothing. I'll show you later." I told him. "Is there something you need?"

"Dr. Martinez wanted me to get you and tell you that dinner's ready."

I nodded, and ran a hand through my hair. "Okay, I'll be there in a second."

He stared at me for a few seconds before asking, "Are you okay?"

I closed my eyes. "I'm fine, Gaz." I kissed his forehead, and his face scrunched up in disgust.

"Ugh, Max! That's gross!"

I rolled my eyes at him. "Go." I pointed to the door, and he walked out, wiping his forehead with his sleeve.

I turned my gaze back to the computer screen. The article, including the picture, was dated two weeks before Angel made her prediction that Fang would die. I looked over the pictures, and zoomed in. It was an extremely tall building. Burnt and destroyed, but not falling down. It was destroyed enough so that no one would dare to go near it, but not enough to make it fall.

I read the article one last time, making sure I read everything right and I wasn't just hallucinating. I looked at the links, and scanned through them looking for anything of importance. _Fire Marshall declares 'Building still habitable, but shall remain empty', Itex Corporation to release new 'super medicine' with funding from Chu Corporations, God's? Genetic experiments? Or freaks?, _and _Itex funds low: The Empire finally crumbling?, _were a few of the ones that caught my attention.

_Cynthia Bronson was not dead._ I saw her in person. Unless, unless…

Unless the burning down of the building was all a set up.

My eyes widened as the pieces slowly fell together. The building was burnt, not enough to completely crumble, and apparently it's still habitable. They knew something like this would happen. They _knew._

_They knew. ALL ALONG!_

They _knew _they would need a place to hide one of us, so they set fire to the buildings, no doubt using innocent people in place of themselves, or maybe just Cynthia, and then went into hiding, because if they wanted to use the building as a holder for something, people would get suspicious and wonder what they were holding in there. And if they didn't tell anyone that they were holding something, people would probably get suspicious anyway, because it probably would have been more guarded, and security would have been heavier.

So they set fire to the building, went into hiding from everyone since they were supposed to be dead, and waited for the perfect time to set their plan into action.

It was a trap, and we walked right into it.

If Fang was really captured, and they were hiding him from us…

This building was the perfect place for them to hide Fang.


	44. Chapter 43

**Okay people, a few things to say before we start this chapter. **

**1. I want to do an experiment. I want to see how many people actually read the Author's Notes. If you do, in your review, put something completely random, like.... My friend Tori says to put Bow Chika Wow Wow, so let's just go with that. (Way to be Tori, way to be.)**

**2. Everyone pretty much knows that Fang is alive, right? Right. If you didn't, well, now you know. It'd be just too cruel for me to kill him or something. So, this chapter will be in Fang's POV, (thanks to Blackice1234 for giving me her opinion), because I think a lot of people want to know what's going on with Fang.**

**3. Be prepared for a small cliffhanger, and a HUGE plot twist.**

**4. The next update is probably going to be some time this weekend, or maybe next Tuesday, since we're off of school.**

**And... I think that's it. :D**

**We're almost to 300 reviews! So review! I don't care if you just put "Update soon! :D" or something like that. haha! :D**

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Chapter 43:

Fang POV:

How long had it been? Weeks? Days? Months? Hours? I had no idea. It was hard to keep track of time in a room with no window. And it's not like I can _ask _what time it is. Yeah, I can see _that _blowing over well.

I had no idea where I was either. All I knew was that I was back in the US. The land of the free.

That line doesn't really apply to this situation though. It never did, and probably never will if I didn't get out of there soon.

I slowly and carefully put all of my weight onto my arm, wincing as I did so, and leaned against the wall, closing my eyes to block out the pain. What was it that Jeb had always told us? Pain is just a message.

I let out a deep and unintentionally shaky breath. I was starving, dehydrated, and my life pretty much sucked right now.

Understatement of the century.

I heard footsteps outside the door to my small cell and tensed, letting out a relieved sigh as they walked past the door. The only good part… well, I wouldn't say good, but you get the idea, is that instead of a dog cage, it was a cell. Yeah, a medieval King Arthur type dungeon. No window, so no light. Musty, damp, dark, and dirty.

Paradise.

I rolled my eyes at my own sarcasm.

Paradise my ass.

All I knew was, if I didn't get out of there soon, it would be the death of me.

Literally.

I flinched as the door to my cell swung open with a bang as it hit the wall it was attached to. Two whitecoats and some of the New Threat barreled in, pulling me to my feet. The whitecoats looked at me curiously and wrote some notes on a clipboard. I rolled my eyes. I was used to it by now.

My eyes moved over to the doorway, where two of the New Threat stood, blocking my view of the hallway. I turned my attention back to the whitecoats who were still taking notes on my "condition." You'd think they'd run out of tests, or ways to torture me, but it doesn't seem like that would be happening any time soon.

I flinched as one of them came towards me with a needle and syringe, but I didn't fight back, knowing that the alternative would be a lot more painful.

He stuck the needle in my arm and drew some blood, while the other one took notes. On what? I can't even imagine. I would think that they would know everything about us by now.

They both stepped back and walked out the door, motioning to the New Threat, who followed them, dragging me along for the ride.

I was thrown into a large conference room. There was a table and a few chairs scattered around with a giant table smack dab in the middle of the room. There was a pitcher of water and two glasses on the table, and my stomach growled when I saw them. I ignored my growling stomach, and didn't go near the water, afraid they might have put something in it.

Way to go Fang. Points for staying paranoid even in the face of death.

I heard the door open behind me, but didn't bother with turning around.

"It's not poisoned, you know." Said a VERY familiar voice from behind me.

I froze.

It couldn't be.

It wasn't possible.

Was it?

The person came into my view and I took in her fresh look. Clean clothes and washed hair, no bags under her eyes from lack of sleep like she usually has; she looked well rested and overall healthier than she's been in a while.

"Don't believe me?" she asked, pouring herself a glass of water and taking a giant sip from it. She sat on the table and looked at me. You know, I've gotta give you props. I never thought you'd last this long. No one did." She took in my shocked and disbelieving stare and I heard her voice inside my head. _Yes, I am the real thing. This isn't a practical joke or anything._

I quickly put my mind blocks up so she wouldn't hear what I was thinking, and I kept quiet, too shocked to speak.

"Surprised?"

I just stared at her, my thoughts rushing through my head a mile a minute.

"You know, if you're going to stare at me this much, you might as well just take a picture. It'll last a lot longer."

She stood and walked around me slowly, and I didn't dare to move an inch. She looked like a lioness observing her prey, waiting for the perfect time to attack.

Ugh, scary mental image. Way to freak yourself out Fang.

"I can't believe you haven't pieced it all together yet, Fang." The spiteful way she said my name made me flinch.

"Nudge and Angel were never the traitors that Brigid was talking about, but we all thought she was." I said quietly, my mouth dry.

"Weird how things suddenly turn out in your favor, isn't it? It was perfect. I didn't have to hold up my mind blocks as much since Angel wasn't around, and with the two of them gone, who would even think of expecting me?" she said.

"You knew all along that they weren't traitors, so you used that to your advantage."

"Give the kid a prize." She said sarcastically, sitting back on the table again, facing me.

"Everything that happened to you…"

"Ever heard of acting? I'd make a pretty good actress, don't you think?"

"How long?" I asked quietly.

"How long what?" she asked innocently.

"How long have you been working for them?" I asked my teeth and fists clenched.

"For a while." She answered. "Let me explain something to you; something I think you need to know." She told me. "You should know as well as I do that it's a dog eat dog, or in this case a bird eat bird world out there. You either fight, or you get hurt. You either win or lose. You're either weak or strong. There is no "in between." You have to trick people, and be deceiving, or else…" She looked up and down at my bruised and bloody figure. "Or else you'll end up like you."

"Like me?" I asked. "I'm not the one who didn't stay faithful to my family and friends. I'm the not the one who turned traitor on them. I'm not the one working for Itex now. And I'm not the one who betrayed my best friend." I said spitefully.

She wasn't fazed. "That may be true in some ways. But, you are the one who's stuck here, half dead, with no one around to save your sorry self. The flock's been captured, so they can't help you, and the best part is, is that they have no idea that _I,_ of all people, was the one who turned them in."

"You betrayed us all. How can you live with yourself knowing you're sending your friends, your_ family, _to their deaths?" I asked her, my voice hiding the pain I was in, physical and emotional.

"Easily." She replied, shrugging. Itex has big plans Fang. I don't know about you, but I value my life. I don't want to die."

"I'd rather die than betray my family." I said bluntly.

She hesitated, and then continued. "I knew you wouldn't understand. You never do. You're just so damn stubborn. You have absolutely no idea what Itex, and Mr. Chu for that matter, plan to do to you. Believe it or not, I do care about you. So I'm giving you the chance to join us. It's your choice, so don't say I never offered."

"Go to hell."

"I vacation there." She replied smoothly, without hesitation. **(A/N: Let's see who can guess where this quote is from!)**

She pushed past me roughly, and walked over to the door, throwing it open. She took one step out the door, and paused. "I expected better from you Fang. A lot better. I would've thought you'd have chosen the right decision."

"I _did _choose the right decision."

She sighed and shook her head. "Enjoy the time you have left. It isn't much." She said, leaving without a second glance at me, slamming the door shut behind her.

As soon as she left, I collapsed into the nearest chair. I may have seemed all Mr. Calm, Cool, and Collected, but inside I was literally freaking out. I had to have been hallucinating. That couldn't have really been her, could it?

It seemed pretty much impossible to me, most probably because I never wanted it to ever happen.

If she was the traitor, and she had the rest of the flock…

Then we were in serious trouble.

If the rest of the flock found out that… that _Max _was really the traitor…

I don't even want to think about what would happen.


	45. Chapter 44

**Okeydokey, people's! Here's the next chappie!**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed and helped me out with the experiment I made in the last chapter. All I have to say is, you guys are very creative. :D A lot of you were really close with the whole, "Who the hell is this girl who thinks she can impersonate Maximum Ride?" thing, but hopefully everything will be explained in ether this chapter, or the next. BTW: It's not Max 2. :)**

**Shout-outs: ****Night owl-Day goddess: I would really appreciate it if you call off the ninja weasles you said you'd send after me in your last review. They woke me up in the middle of the night last night and wouldn't let me go back to sleep unless I wrote the next chapter. :D**

**Congrats to IdIoTiC-FrEaK-Of-NaTuRe who was the only one to guess where the quote is from. (Madea's Family Reunion.) That's such a hilarious movie. :D Oh, and by the way, I don't have a life either, so join the club. :)**

**One last thing: I'm thinking of starting a series of Faxy oneshots, and there may be other pairings too. What do you guys think? I might go post one I've been working on later, so keep a lookout for it! And we're almost to 300 reviews! Keep reviewing! :D**

**- flyaway111**

**~Enjoy**

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Max POV:

You know what I love about flying? You can go wherever you want and no one can stop you. It's the feeling of ultimate freedom. But it's pretty much impossible to enjoy when you're a few minutes away from where your best friend might be being held captive.

"Everyone remembers the plan, right?" I asked again to _my _flock, and _my flock only_. Where was Dylan's flock?

I laughed softly at the memory:

"_We're coming with you. You know you can't do this alone." Dylan argued._

"_Who says we can't? We've done it before, and we can sure as hell do it again!" I shot back. I glanced at the two flocks who were watching us. Their heads were swinging back and forth between the two of us as if they were watching a tennis match._

"_We don't know what we're up against. They're not going to take any chances. They probably have him locked up and protected so we can't get near him. You're going to need some help getting to him."_

_I swung back my fist and punched him, and he stumbled back and landed on the floor with a thud. "If you want to help, stay here, and don't do anything stupid. I can do what I want, and I DON'T need your approval."_

I shook my head, chuckling softly. They'll never learn.

"Yes, Max. We remember. This was what? The 18th time you've asked us?" Iggy said sarcastically.

"Jeez, just making sure." I muttered.

"Give her a break Iggy. She's stressed out." Nudge said. "Wouldn't _you_ be stressed if your best friend/boyfriend/soul mate/right wing man/flock member was kidnapped?"

Angel and I shared a glance as Iggy said, "Flock member or best friend, maybe. But I don't have a _boyfriend _and I don't plan on having one either. Sorry, but I don't swing that way."

"Could have fooled us." Gazzy muttered.

We all snickered and Iggy frowned. He opened his mouth to comment, but I cut him off. "We're almost there guys. Everyone ready?"

There were various yes's and a sarcastic comment that I tuned out from Iggy.

I tuned out the rest of the flock as they chattered away aimlessly, knowing that they were all thinking about Fang, and hoping to God that we could help him. If he was even there.

* * *

It took us a lot longer than expected to get to where we thought Fang was being held. We landed on the roof of the building a little past midnight. Since it was dark, I don't think we were spotted.

I think.

"So how are we going to get _in_ the building exactly?" Gazzy asked.

"I'm still trying to figure that out." I told him. "Opening a window would probably set off an alarm, and it's not like we could walk through the front door."

"Yeah. Because it's not like they could have made it _convenient _for us…" Iggy muttered.

"Now's not a good time for your sarcasm Iggy." I told him.

"Shouldn't they have made like, a door way to the roof through the building or something? You know, for the janitors and stuff?" Nudge asked.

We all split our separate ways to try to find a way into the building. There was something bugging me in the back of my head, but I just couldn't figure out what it was. I had tried talking to Fang telepathically, but it wouldn't work, so I had absolutely no contact with him whatsoever.

"Max! Gazzy and I found something!" I heard Angel's voice come from somewhere in the darkness. I walked forward to where I had heard her voice, and saw the rest of the flock gathered around a large, slowly spinning fan.

"In there?" I asked, and Angel nodded. I looked at Gazzy. "How did you find this so quickly and why are you covered in soot?"

"Long story, and it's dirty in there." He said, shrugging.

"Any idea where it leads?" I asked, peeking in the dark tunnel through the fan.

"The vents." Gazzy said. "We could be able to just drop in on them."

That bad feeling in the back of my head got even stronger, but I shook it off. "Let's get this over with." I muttered.

We crawled into the dirty, dusty vent, not knowing where we were actually going.

"So, where do we go from here?" Iggy asked.

"No idea. I think we should just continue going with Plan B."

"What's Plan B?"

"Exactly."

Iggy rolled his eyes, and we continued forward. I looked through the holes in the vents to the halls below us. People were walking through the halls, and talking without a care in the world.

"Well, we definitely know it's not abandoned." Angel said.

I nodded. "Angel, can you hear Fang?"

She closed her eyes, and I saw her tiny features scrunch up in concentration. It I wasn't so anxious, and she wasn't part "demon," I would have thought it was cute.

"He's here." She said slowly. "But it's hard to talk to him or read his thoughts. They're panicky, and going too fast for me to fully make them out." She cocked her head to the side in confusion. "He's upset though, and hurt."

"Hurt? How bad?" Nudge asked. "Do you know where he is? Can he fly or will we have to help him? Any broken bones, or is he sick or something –"

Gazzy slapped his hand over her mouth, and I sent him a thankful look.

Angel was quiet for a few seconds. "I'm pretty sure he's on this floor. I think. But, I don't think he's physically hurt as much as he is emotionally hurt."

We all looked at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" Iggy asked.

"I can't tell what it is, but they… _someone _did something to him."

"Well, see if you can find out." I told her.

Her face scrunched up in concentration again, and she cocked her head to the side to look at me in confusion.

"What? Do you know what they showed him?"

She nodded slowly. "Max… They showed him…" Her voice trailed off, and her eyes went unfocused again.

"What? What did they show him, Angel?" I asked her.

She didn't answer, and her eyes stayed unfocused, as if she was concentrating on something that was far away. "He's thinking about a traitor." She said softly. "The one that Brigid was really talking about…"

Angel's eyes widened, and she stared at me with a shocked look on her face. "Max…"

I crawled to her through the vents as much as I could without making any loud noises. I touched her arm, and she jumped as if I electrocuted her. "Angel, what did you see? What's wrong?" I asked sternly.

She looked down at her hands. "Max… The Whitecoats... They showed Fang…"

"What? What did they show him?" I asked sternly shaking her a bit.

There was a long pause, as if the calm before the storm. Where everything was peaceful and quiet before the bomb blows up.

"They showed him… You."


	46. Chapter 45

**I am so sorry for not updating sooner! I've been in Alabama for a while, and lost my flash drive which had all my work on it, and I still can't find it! I'm pretty sure this is pretty much how I wrote the next chapter, so I'll post this, look for my flash drive even more, and maybe try to write the next chapter! :D**

**Night owl-Day goddess: All I have to say to you is, "Stupid weasels."**

**300 Reviews! Yay! A big thank you to the 300th reviewer, maximumFANGirl! :D Keep those reviews coming! :D**

* * *

Chapter 45:

Max POV:

"Me? Why would they show him me?" I asked, confused.

"It wasn't you, but at the same time it was. It's hard to explain." Angel said.

"How is that even possible?" Iggy asked.

"Don't you remember Max 2?" she asked.

We all nodded.

"Well, this is like a Max 3.5. She's pretty much perfect. Apparently Fang thinks she's the real you, but she isn't."

"So Fang thinks I'm a traitor?"

"Pretty much."

"This day just keeps on getting better and better." I muttered. "Do you have any idea where they're keeping him?"

She shook her head.

"Keep trying to talk to him while we try to find him." I instructed. "It's time to break him out of here, once and for all."

And if that wasn't a cliché, I don't know what is.

We crawled through the small, cramped vents going up and down, left and right, hoping that we were all somehow going the right way.

"Left." Angel called out to me quietly.

"Are you sure?" I asked her.

"Positive." She said.

I started left when Gazzy grabbed my ankle. "Max. Look."

I looked to where he was pointing to see that Angel had frozen. Her eyes had gotten a faraway look in them, and her head was cocked to the side.

"Angel?" I asked. "What's wrong?"

"It's… It's Fang." She told us dazedly.

My heart beat heavily in my chest. "What about Fang?"

"He's… dying." She said breathlessly

We all exchanged glances, and it took me a split second to suddenly realize she was having a vision.

"What do you mean?" Nudge asked. "He's dying right now? Or did they do something to him?"

I turned away from all of them and crawled through the vents even faster than before, a sudden shot of adrenaline running through my system. I heard the flock's voices coming after me, but they faded away as I went faster.

I stopped at a vent in the ceiling and looked through the holes at the hallway below. It looked clear, so I pried the vent away with the tips of my fingers, and got ready to jump down. I heard a loud gasp come from behind me in the vents, but ignored it.

"Max! No, stop!" Angel's voice reached me the second my feet hit the floor.

I walked forward slowly through the long hall, and heard two pairs of feet drop down from the vent behind me. "Max! Stop!" Angel hissed, as she and Gazzy ran up me, trying to pull me back towards the vent. "We need to get out of here; we need to go back!"

I shook them off, and walked forward again slowly, a wave of familiarity running over me. "I know this place." I whispered quietly. "I've been here before." I cocked my head to the side in confusion as I took in the familiar charts on the walls, the familiar floor tiles, the familiar windows with the bars on the outside…

I distantly felt Angel and Gazzy get a hold on me and try to pull me back to the vents. I shook my head, trying to get my bearings, and turned around towards the vents with Angel and Gazzy.

And we froze.

_Angel, tell Nudge and Iggy to get out of here as fast as they can, and back to the safe house._

**But –**

_NOW!_

Angel flinched, but nodded slightly.

What seemed like a flood of the New Threat had filled the halls behind us under the vent without us noticing. I glanced up and saw Iggy quietly putting the cover over the vent again. We all moved to turn around and run, but saw the other side of the hall was filled up with even MORE of the New Threat.

We were completely trapped.

"Max?" Gazzy muttered quietly as we had a stare down with them. "Exactly how are we going to get out of this?"

"Give me a second. I'll come up with something." I murmured back.

No one moved an inch, and we barely dared to breathe, afraid that even the slightest move would end up setting them off.

"Plan C?" Angel asked me out of the corner of her mouth.

"C? I thought we were already on Plan J?" Gazzy asked sarcastically, and I shot him a glare.

"Alright, everyone out of the way! Come on, move it or lose it!" A voice I instantly recognized came over the silence of the crowd.

The crowd separated to reveal a skinny girl with dark brownish blonde hair, pale skin, and chocolate brown eyes. She was tall, wearing old dark jeans, Converse, and an old t-shirt. She had an aggravated look on her face as she came to stand in front of the three of us.

It was Max 3.5.

She stood with her hands on her hips and sized us up, "Well it's about time I get to meet you. I was beginning to think you had given up on him." She said and scoffed as she looked me up and down. "_You _are supposed to be the real Max?" She snorted. "Please. Get real."

Who even says that anymore?

"Well, it just goes to show you that they always have to make a rough draft before the masterpiece." She continued.

I lunged at her, but Angel and Gazzy pulled me back.

"Ooh, feisty." She said, smiling.

I tore my arms from Angel and Gazzy's grasps, and lunged at her again.

The honest truth is that I didn't even see what happened.

The next thing I knew was that I was on the floor, leaning against the wall, my head pounding from when it cracked hard against the floor. Gazzy and Angel were next to me, glaring up at _her_ as some of the New Threat came towards them, ready to drag them away. I looked up at myself, or her, or… you know what, never mind. I looked up at Max 3 through the black spots that were threatening to cloud my vision, and she smirked a cocky smirk back at me.

"Awesome reflexes aren't they?" she asked me. "I am the new and improved Maximum Ride. 100% real. I have all the same memories and my personality is exactly the same as yours, from my favorite TV show, to my favorite food. We are exactly alike, except I'm stronger, faster, and smarter, than you ever were, or will ever be."

I glared at her. "Why does this place look so familiar to me?"

She smiled. "Oh, you noticed that, huh? It looks scarily familiar to you, doesn't it? Like from a dream? Or more accurate, a nightmare?" she chuckled softly. "I'm surprised you haven't recognized this place for what it really is. Or was. I guess it is kind of different since the last time you've been here."

"What are you talking about? I've never been here before in my life."

"Maybe not this place exactly. See, the reason why this place looks so familiar is because it's pretty much an exact replica of the School in Death Valley. The one _you_ destroyed."

My eyes widened as it clicked in my head.

"Scary, isn't it?" she asked, and knelt down by me. She leaned close to me and whispered in my ear so no one else could hear. "It will be exactly as before. As though the traitor Jeb never took you away from the School in the first place. Good luck trying to get yourself out of this one."

She stood up and stared at me. I saw something flash across her eyes. Pity? It was gone before I could chance a second look at her, and I shook it off, thinking I was imagining it.

"You say you're perfect? Ha, very funny. Because nothing is more perfect than the original." I spat at her.

She shook her head. "Nice try, but I'm you, remember? I know all your tricks."

She stepped aside as a whitecoat walked up with a needle in his hand. I scrambled to move, but Max 3 was next to me in a flash, holding me down. The whitecoat pressed the needle into my arm, and I watched, helpless, as some sort of clear liquid shot into my arm.

I could feel my eyes closing and I struggled to stay awake. Max 3 let me go and stood up again looking down at me. I couldn't move, and I couldn't speak. I was paralyzed. And of course, the last thing I heard before a heavy darkness took over was, "Night Max. Have a good night's sleep. Because when you wake up, nothing will be the same."


	47. Chapter 46

**Yay! I found my flash drive! Well, technically my cousin found the flash drive, but that's beside the point. This chapter has major FAX in it, so you've been warned. :) It's kind of slow, but is very necessary for the story.**

**shoutouts: maximumFANGirl - sorry, this chapter doesn't have that violent epic fight that you wanted. :( oh, and tell your friends who are on fanfic that I said you have total bragging rights for the shoutout. :)**

**Go check out the poll on my profile! You don't have to, it's not absolutely necessary, but it'd be cool if you did. :D**

**Oh, and quick question: Have any of you read Phoenix Fanatic's Diary of a Lovesick Mutant? (I mean, besides Iggy4ever, because you can just tell by her profile picture that she read it. Diet Coke with _bacon_? There aren't words to describe how awesomely bacontastic that is.)**

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Chapter 46:

Fang POV:

You know what the most annoying thing about being kept in a cell and tortured for weeks at a time is?

The sheer and utter boredom.

I would drift in and out of sleep every hour or so, trying to get a little energy, and when I was awake, I would do something like count how many bricks were in the floor.

It was enough to make anyone ADD.

The sad part was is that even though I knew I was close to death from starvation, dehydration, and more likely, boredom, is that the only thing that really bothered me, and the only thing I couldn't get off of my mind, was _her. The traitor._

I should have known that Max would be capable of doing something like this. Itex needed a person on the inside, and I was an idiot for not having figured it out sooner.

I momentarily flinched as the door to my cell creaked open, and I prepared myself for the worst.

What I didn't expect was to be joined by Angel and Gazzy.

The two of them were thrown into the cell, one on top of the other, both of them groaning and bruised.

"Gazzy? Angel?" I asked, my voice rough and scratchy from not being used.

They both looked up and their eyes widened when they saw me, and widened even more when they saw the shape I was in.

"Fang?" Angel asked hesitantly. The next thing I knew, I was almost knocked over onto the floor with both of them trying to hug me. I was hit with a rough wave of pain when one of them hit my bloody chest. I winced, and moved the two of them off of me carefully.

"How the hell did you two get here? Are Iggy and Nudge okay?"

"We came to rescue you." The Gasman said, sitting on one side of me.

"Yeah! Fang there's something you need to know about Max –" Angel started.

I cut her off. "I already know. I don't want to hear anything about her. Alright?"

"But Fang, you don't understand. She –"

Angel was cut off again as the door to the cell opened a second time, and another person was thrown into the cell with us. A girl, with brownish-blonde hair, and the chocolate brown eyes that I once fell in love with.

Max.

* * *

Max POV:

I woke up when I was being thrown into a dark, dirty cell. I was hurting all over, and it felt like I had sprouted a million new nerve endings. I was sore, and felt like I could barely move.

I moved onto my hands and knees, shook my head, spitting some blood out of my mouth.

Before I could make another move, I was roughly slammed against the wall, and I could feel the oxygen quickly rush out of my lungs. I opened my eyes to find that my attacker was none other than Fang. His eyes were guarded and he looked ready to kill.

Wait…

Did he still think I was…

Oh, crap.

"Fang! _Stop_!" I heard Angel and Gazzy's voices yell out. I saw them out of the corner of my eye, standing a few feet away. Gazzy ran forward about to help me, but Angel pulled him back, and whispered something to him, and he nodded, both of them glancing at me, helpless. Angel had had the same exact thought as me. The only person that would be able to stop Fang at this point would be himself. Not any of us.

He ignored them, and didn't take his eyes off of me. I clutched at his hands, trying to loosen his grip, but that just made him tighten them harder around my throat. I couldn't breathe, and my vision was getting fuzzy. He leaned in close to me, and whispered, "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right now."

"Maybe I could give you a reason." Came a voice from our left.

It was the other me.

We had been so caught up in the moment, we hadn't even noticed the cell door open and Max 3 walk in, holding what looked like four bottles of water in her hands.

Fang stared at her, his facial expressions giving away nothing. But I knew him well enough to know he was beyond shocked. I felt his hand gradually loosen on my throat until it fell limply at his side. I greedily took in gulps of air, rubbing at my sore throat, and watching Max 3 and Fang.

Max 3 looked from me to fang with a bored expression on her face. "Yeah, it's me, I'm not the original Max, blah blah blah. Does that give you reason enough not to kill her?"

Fang didn't say anything.

So I did.

"Why not let him kill me? Isn't that what you people wanted all along? He would've killed me, and never would have known that I wasn't a traitor."

"That really is the big question, isn't it? _Why_?" she asked, looking back and forth between the four of us. "Why are there people that do experiments on innocent kids? Why are people trying to take over the world? Why didn't I just let him kill you?" She shrugged. "Who knows why? What's important isn't why it happened. It's because it happened in the first place that's important."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"It means you look too into things. Don't ask why things happened. Like I said, it's not the why. It's what you do about it." She said, looking me straight in the eye.

"And you're telling us this because…" My voice trailed off at my unfinished question.

She hesitated slightly, and paused before she answered. "Because maybe I have some pity for you. When I look at you, I see me, and I'm pretty sure it's the same thing vice versa. I'm not as heartless as you may think I am."

"I find that very hard to believe." I told her. "Because if you weren't heartless, you'd help us get out of here."

She shook her head sadly, and tossed the water bottles toward me where they landed near my feet. "You should keep your strength up. You'll need it." She turned to walk out the door, but paused. Without turning around, she said, "Don't think I don't know how it feels to have the weight of the world on your shoulders. I never asked for this, and I don't like what I do. I do it because I have to." She left without another word to us, slamming and locking the door behind her.

I stared after her, trying to figure out what she meant.

"Max!" Angel's voice snapped me out of my reverie.

I looked over to where the two of them were leaning over Fang, and I finally got a good look at him.

He looked absolutely terrible. His jeans and t-shirt were torn and ripped, and so were his shoes. His skin was pale and looked fragile, and he had bags under his eyes. Scars and bruises covered almost every visible inch of him, and he looked like her had been run over by a car.

I grabbed one of the bottles of water, and walked over to them, kneeling down by his side. I unscrewed the cap and put the bottle to his parched lips. "Here, drink this." He drank the water quickly, and leaned against the wall, closing his eyes tight.

_Angel, _I told her in my head. _Why don't you and Gazzy get some rest? We're going to need our energy, and it doesn't look like we'll be getting out of here any time soon._

**We will Max. I'll tell him. Are you gonna talk to Fang?**

I nodded. _Can you get anything from him?_

**No, he has his mind blocks up. I can't really tell what it is, but they did something really bad to him Max.**

_I know sweetie. Just…. You and Gaz go get your water bottles and try to get some sleep._

She nodded, and the two of them found a cramped spot in the cell, lying next to each other.

_Oh, and Angel? When Fang and I are talking, don't listen in._

She nodded again and turned her head to the wall where I couldn't see her face.

I moved closer to Fang, wanting to be able to touch him, to know I was with him again, and leaned against the wall, waiting a few minutes until I saw the younger kids breathing slow down, which told me they were asleep.

"I know this is a really stupid question," I told him quietly, "but, are you okay?"

His eyes opened up a fraction of an inch to look at me. "I'll live. I've had worse." He closed his eyes again and said, "I'm sorry."

I gave him a confused look. "For what?"

"For being a jackass and taking off like that. I should've talked to you about it first." He said.

"Well, in that case, I'm sorry too."

He gave me a look that copied the confused one I gave him. "What could you be sorry for?"

I sighed. "I know I've been a real bitch lately, and I'm sorry for it. I'm sorry for kissing Dylan, for not believing you when you told me Melissa kissed you and not the other way around, and for whatever else I'm forgetting."

He chuckled softly. "You don't have to apologize for it. Overreacting is pretty much part of who you are."

I gave him a half-smile, which seemed out of place under the circumstances. "I just have one question though."

He nodded to show me he was listening.

"How'd you do it?" I asked curiously.

His eyebrows scrunched together in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"That… Houdini act of yours. How'd you do it? We saw you go into the building, but it wasn't you who blew it up. But Angel was reading your mind the whole time and saw every move you made, and apparently when you blew up the building. How'd you do it?"

He let out a deep breath. "It's kind of a long story."

"Well, it doesn't look like we're going anywhere anytime soon." I told him.

He nodded. "True." He closed his eyes and said, "To tell you the truth, I wasn't really sure how it happened. I don't really remember most of it, but what I do remember is going into the building, and there was an open door, and inside where a bunch of cages with experiments. I fed Angel a bunch of false images so she wouldn't do something stupid like stop me from letting them all out. I went in and just acted on instinct; I opened all the cages. Then I remember pointing the way out to one of the experiments who could understand me, leaving to find the room to destroy the building, then… nothing. The next thing I knew, I woke up here."

"Fang… What did they _do_ to you?"

"Too much." He said, and left it at that.

Silence.

"Angel gave me a quick rundown on what's been happening with the rest of the flock." His voice broke through the silence. "She said Iggy got his sight back."

"He did. He was ecstatic."

"I can just about imagine."

Silence again.

"She showed me how the flock was falling apart… How _you_ were falling apart."

I sighed and shrugged. "I expected that. Little devil."

"Max, you looked… terrible." He said, moving so he could look at me. "It was like you… lost the will to live."

I stared back at him with sad eyes. "In some ways I had." He opened his mouth to comment, but I cut him off. "Forget it. The past is the past."

"So? Don't forget you have a flock to look after Max."

"Well, it's not the flock if you aren't there with us."

He shook his head, obviously frustrated. "You know damn well that I'm not always going to be there. Sooner or later something's going to happen and you're going to have to lead the flock as if I was there with you."

"Maybe and maybe not. But that time isn't any time soon."

He pinched the bridge of his nose as if he had a headache. "Max, I'm not worth it. There are probably –"

I cut him off. "I don't know why you keep trying to win this argument even though we both know you're going to lose."

He sighed, but didn't comment, and we both enjoyed the comfortable silence that washed over us.

"You're wrong, you know." I said quietly, my voice softly cutting through the silence.

He turned his head to the side to look at me. "What?"

"You _are _worth it." I reached upward and put my hand on his cheek, bringing his lips to mine. I felt his arms wind around my waist and his hand lightly rest against the small of my back. I moved so I was kneeling in front of him, and I tilted my head to kiss him better. I slowly pulled away from him, and repeated softly, "You _are _worth it. You always were."

"I thought you would've hated me after I took off like that." He whispered.

I shook my head, smiling slightly. "You idiot, I could never hate you. It's like the old saying goes. Hate… Hate is too easy. Love takes courage."

He gave me his famous half-smirk and pulled me in for a hug. I buried my head in his chest, carefully wrapping my arms around his waist.

At that moment I knew I was forgiven, and at that moment I forgot that we were captured. I forgot about my mission to save the world, and I forgot about Fang being close to death. I forgot about everything that was happening around me.

At that moment… I felt safe.

All I knew was that at this point in time, Fang was safe, and we were together.

And strangely… I didn't need much more than that.

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**Review?**


	48. EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE

EXTREMELY IMPORTANT! PLEASE READ!

Hola people! This is Shelby's (flyaway111) best friend Taylor here! Shelby gave me her account email and password so I can give out this important authors note to you guys. She wrote a bunch of stuff down she said I needed to tell you, so here we go:

1. Shelby won't be able to update her story for a while because, (I'm not sure if she told you in one of the last chapters that this was going to happen or not) she just went through a surgery called "Balloon Sinuplasty." It had something to do with her sinuses, so if you want more explanation, Google it, because Google has answers to almost everything. It's nothing major, and she's doing amazing for recovery, she's just very exhausted and it's hard for her to think straight with all the pain meds and everything.

* * *

This part has shoutouts for, (it was the first person to review for the last chapter, it just wouldn't let me put the name up for some stupid reason), maximumFANGirl, GreyPurpleBlack, and (the anonymous review) fanficlover. So if your not any of those people, you can just skip this:

2. Shout-outs:

- : She says, "I'm trying to fit in another plot twist about Jeb and some of the other characters, but you'll see when the story goes on."

- GreyPurpleBlack: She says, "When I read your review I literally laughed out loud. I had a crazy mental image with Obama and Bacon when you said that. Turkey Bacon is just as awesome as regular bacon because, like you said, Bacon is Bacon. Yes, PLEASE do mention Bacon (or Lady Gaga) in your reviews, because Bacon is just… freakin Bacontastic. Oh, and I looked on your profile page about that whole Bacon thing… It made me laugh out loud again."

- maximumFANGirl: Shelby says, "I know, wasn't it all cute and Faxy! Oh, just needed to tell you, when I read your review, (the part about Max 3), it gave me a great idea on what to do next, so whenever I finish writing it, you get a sneak peek before I post the chapter. :)"

- (anonymous review): fanficlover: She says, "No, I haven't written any other stories, but I do have a few ideas that I'm working with. I'll see how they turn out, then once I finish this story, I'll start another one. Oh, and don't worry, I hate Dylan too. I think ALMOST everyone does."

* * *

3. For those of you who have read Diary of A Lovesick Mutant, oh, my freakin God, isn't It completely Bacontastic! For those of you who haven't read it, READ IT! It's probably one of the best stories on the entire fanfiction website. And this part isn't just from Shelby, it's from me too. I'm not even on FF, and Shelby threatened to hurt me in my sleep if I didn't read it and I thought it was amazing!

4. Once she gets ready to post the next chapter, she says she'll take this authors note down.

5. She wants to give a big thanks to all her reviewers from all the chapters, and a thanks to the people who actually read this long authors note.

6. …Actually I think that's it.

In the words of a famous mutant bird kid,

Fly on.

Shelby and Taylor :)


	49. Chapter 47

**Well, Shelby's friend Taylor here again... This will be the last time I update Shelby's fanfic hopefully... I finally found where shelby kept this chapter, which she wrote before she had that certain thing which is written at the bottom authors note! The reason Shelby isn't updating this is because Shelby is... indisposed at the moment. If you wanna know what happened, it'll be at the A/N at the bottom, along with a bunch of shoutouts and stuff I think... But here's the next chapter.**

**Oh, and Shelby put up a little oneshot thingy or whatever which she posted a few days BEFORE she wrote this. Go read it and review it please! :) It's cute and Faxy. :) She told me to say: Even if you don't like it, please review because she says it kinda sucks. (Even though it doesn't.)**

**:D**

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Chapter 47:

Fang POV:

6:23 am:

There are days where I feel like crap and don't want to get out of bed, or in some cases, get up off of a concrete floor, and there are some days where I'll bite the head off of anyone who even looks at me wrong. And then there are times like now, where I wake up completely clueless and have absolutely no idea what's going on.

Confused?

Allow me to explain.

Sometime in the middle of the night, (or the middle of the day; I'm only saying night because it was around the time I fell asleep while her hands ran through my hair.)

I woke up with a headache, and I struggled to sit up and lean against the wall. I looked left and right, automatically scanning the cold room to see if anything was wrong. Angel was still asleep, and so was Gazzy. Max was…

I crawled over and woke up Angel and Gazzy, and they both sat up, yawning and rubbing their eyes.

"What's wrong, Fang?" Gazzy asked, his speech slightly slurred from just waking up.

"Um, Fang?" Angel asked, looking around the room slowly. "Where's Max?"

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Iggy POV:

7:46 am:

I had a plan.

At least, as far as Nudge knew, I had a plan.

In reality though, I had no idea what I was going to do.

As of now, we had found a secluded spot in the woods a few miles away from where the rest of the flock was being held captive. And I was pacing.

A lot.

"Iggy? Can you stop pacing and sit down please? You're kind of giving me a headache. And I really need to think because I;m really worried about Max and Gazzy and Angel. And Fang. I hope he's okay. I hope they're all okay. Do you think we should call Dr. Martinez and Ella? What about Jeb? Do you think he deserves to know? I mean -"

"Nudge, if you don't shut up, once we get back to the house I will blow up all of your Justin Bieber pictures."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Try me."

She narrowed her eyes, but kept her mouth shut. I rubbed my temples. She thought _she_ had a headache.

I shook my head and went sit down next to her, my head in my hands. This was a disaster.

"Don't worry Iggy. We'll figure something out." Nudge told me, patting my shoulder.

"It's not that. It's just that…" My voice trailed off. "Nudge… Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

My eyes narrowed as I automatically got into a fighting stance.

"Someone's coming."

* * *

Max POV:

9:15 am:

_Get it together Max. Now is not the time to panic. _Is what I kept repeating to myself over and over again. _Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic._

You have no idea how hard it is not to panic when you wake up and find you're strapped down (face down) to a cold metal table in an operating room.

"Hello?" I called out, hearing my voice echo in the quiet room. I was alone, but I felt a shiver run down my spine.

I was being watched.

"I don't know what you psycho's have planned, but it won't work. We'll get out of here, as we always do." I said, knowing whoever was watching me could hear me.

"That fact is up for debate Maximum." Said a voice that was _very_ familiar to me.

I heard the swishing of a door being thrown open behind me, but I couldn't turn myself around to see the person who had walked in. The footsteps were light, but with a force that I recognized as anger and frustration.

I turned my head as much as I could towards the direction of the footsteps as Cynthia Bronson and Max 3 came into my view. I tried not to show my surprise and disappointment of seeing Cynthia Bronson, since I had hoped she had been… _destroyed _by the explosion. Max 3 went stand in the corner of the room, watching what was about to unfold quietly.

"Good to see you alive and well Maximum." She said, standing in front of me, as I strained my neck to see her face.

"Wish I could say the same about you."

"Always the sarcastic one…" She muttered. She slowly walked around me, and I could feel her watching me; examining every move I made.

What a creeper.

"There is something we need to talk to you about Max."

I rolled my eyes. "Isn't there always?"

"It seems to be that you have been… less than cooperative." She said, still circling me.

I snorted. "Really? I hadn't noticed. I apologize for my behavior."

She came to stop in front of me again, and bent down to my eye level. "We have come to the decision that you are no longer needed."

I stared at her. "And this is important to me because…"

She narrowed her eyes at me and scowled. I smirked.

She stood up straight, and began walking around me again. "This means that you no longer need to be here obviously. But we can't just throw you out into the world. That's impossible, and plain stupid. Wasting millions of dollars just to throw it away." She scoffed.

"So why am I trapped to an operating table?"

"We had to do something with you. We can't just keep you here alive, wasting valuable space. Someone will be in here soon, maybe about ten twenty minutes, to clip your wings so we can have your feathers and you won't try to fly away again."

My eyes widened and I involuntarily gasped.

"And then, just for a good show, you will be hanged."

I stared at her, my eyes wide.

"Yes, the great Maximum Ride, will once and for all be defeated."

"But killing me would just be wasting millions of dollars." I said weakly.

"You know as well as I do that _recycling_ is all the rage now."

I shook my head and turned my eyes away from her. "You're disgusting. How do you live with yourself?"

"Quite easily actually. You'd be surprised." She took my face in her hands and said, "Just look at it this way. At least before you died, you got the chance to make up with your precious Fang."

My eyes narrowed and I struggled against the straps holding me down. "You little bit-"

I was cut off when she slammed my head into the freezing cold metal table.

I squeezed my eyes shut, as she ordered Max 3, "Watch her. Make sure she doesn't do anything _stupid_. I will be back later with the other scientists."

I heard the door swing open and shut as she left and that left me alone with Max 3.

Great.

I find out I'm going to get my wings clipped.

Then I find out I'm going to die.

Then I get left alone with the one person I DON'T want to be near right now.

Coincidence?

I don't think so.

The two of us were quiet for a while until she spoke up. "I'm sorry."

"No you're not." I shot back at her.

"I know it may not seem like it but I am."

"Well, you have a funny way of showing it."

"It will all work -"

"Don't you _dare_ tell me it will all work out in the end. I'm sick and tired of all the fortune cookie answers I've been getting from everyone. No one has been giving me straight answers anymore. So if you don't have any straight answers to say, don't bother wasting your breath. I don't have a lot of time left, and you're wasting my air."

She looked down at her feet, avoiding my glare, and shaking her head. "I don't care if you believe me or not." She looked up at me. "But I'm sorry. If I could do something, I would."

"That's the thing. You can do something. You have the power to do something. Every single person on this earth has the power to do something, whether it be government, health, environment, or _whatever _related. Why don't you understand that?"

She rolled her eyes.

I stared at her for a few minutes. "I know this may seem a little weird coming from me, but I used to be exactly like you, attitude-wise I mean. I used to only care for myself and my family, but now that's changed. I met my mom and my half sister, and all these other people that I care about, and it spread and spread until now I feel like everyone is my family. Even if we're not blood related."

"These kids that are experiments… They had families and friends. And brothers and sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. They could have had wives, and children of their own. But you people took it away from them. They could have become the person who discovers the cure for cancer. They could have been the next Mark Twain, or Albert Einstein, Sally Ride, Marie Antoinette, Joan of Arc, Jane Austen, Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King Jr. or even the next Pope John Paul the 2nd. And now that can never happen because you stole those chances from them."

She turned her face away from me again and I could have sworn I saw a tear fall down her cheek.

"It hurts, doesn't it. The guilt. The pity. The hurt. You feel sorrow for them but it's too late. I've done a lot of bad things in my life that I'm not proud of… No, no that's not true, I'm proud of most of them. But that's beside the point. I'm trying to make up for what I've done wrong. There's still hope for me and there's still hope for you. For all of us. You still have a chance to make a change."

I could see the debate clear on her face. She was cracking.

"The question is… Will you take a chance and make that change? Will you do something good for the world?"

She closed her eyes and I saw her struggling with her decision.

"Max." I called her name to get her to look at me.

She looked at me expectantly.

"Will you help me?"

* * *

**(Note that Shelby asked me politely *cough* ordered *cough* me to type:)**

**Go read and review the oneshot even if you hated it please!**

**The reason my friend is updating this again is because I was sent to the hospital... again. You know how when you have a major procedure or something you have to have a follow-up appointment with your doctor? Well, at my follow up, the doctor was doing something to my nose and I had three mini-seizures and passed out. Nothing's wrong as far as we know, and I've been sent to do so many tests that we're still waiting on the results. So this is the reason for my long wait. I'm so so so so so so sorry. I'll be updating a lot more often after this.**

**Shoutouts:**

**fanficlover: Thanks for your reviews! It only says that you're an anonymous reviewer because I can't click on your username and go on your profile, since I'm going with the fact that you don't have one.**

**Iggy4ever: Thanks! I hope I get better too. lol I was so dissappointed when DOALM ended. When It started I was like :D, in the middle I was like :O, and at the end I was like :(.**

**Thank you to everyone else who reviewed! You guys are absolutely amazing!**

**Peace, Love, and Maximum Ride,**

**Shelby. :) (And Taylor!)**


	50. Chapter 48

**I know it's an early update. I just couldn't resist. :) Yes it's Shelby. (Taylor says hi, since she's watching me update this.) I'm all better. :) We're still waiting for the results from all the tests I took and all other kinds of stuff, but anyway...**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed! And go check out my oneshot collection thingy! And please review! Even though I know it really sucks. **

**Thanks for all the 'get well' wishes too. You guys are awesome! :)**

**Shoutouts: **

**seethroughiggyseyes - I tried to do that a long time ago but FF was being stupid and wouldn't let me do all the indentations and stuff like a real book. Grr... Because I normally do my stories and stuff in Microsoft Word and I do it in a normal book format, because it's just a habit, and when I upload, this is how it turns out. :( I'm glad you liked my story. :D I had a love/hate relationship with FANG... Me and my friends have this joke at school where we say stuff like how Maximum Ride slowly descends into the realm of 'Twilight' (for all the twilight haters) and things like how we think Angel went to Palm Springs where JP lives and kidnapped him and rewrote the book herself so she can get eternal glory or something. haha:)**

**maximumFANGirl - I'm glad you liked it! I absolutely love writing Iggy's POV, I don't know why... there's just something about it. Taylor is pretty much ecstatic right now because she got a shoutout in your review. You literally made her day. :D**

**This chapter is kind of short, but is DEFINITELY CRITICAL to the story. I'm on a writing streak and am writing like crazy, but even though I love this chapter, you might not like me for writing it...**

**Enjoy and Review! :D**

* * *

Chapter 48:

Fang POV:

9:45 am:

If you asked me what was going on right now, I couldn't tell you because I have absolutely no idea. We were dragged from our cell at who knows what time and dragged into the morning sunlight in front of all of these people. Nice way to start the day, isn't it?

We were in what looked like a smaller version of The Roman Coliseum. The first few rows were filled to the brim with people and the rows after that had groups of people scattered around here and there. Most of them were The New Threat, but a lot of them in the bottom rows were faces that were scarily familiar to me. I could distantly see Sam, Lissa, and Brigid all sitting together, and Mr. Chu sitting with a group of people in suits.

There were a bunch of giant TV screens on the ground below the seats, and I could see people of all sorts of races on them. They looked strangely familiar. As I looked closer, I realized where I had seen them before. They were the same exact people that the Uber-director had tried to sell us to before he was torn apart with his hench…thing Gozen during that hurricane.

In the middle of the giant stadium was a large platform with what looked like a giant pendulum with a noose attached to it.

I have a feeling that we're not here to watch a gladiator match.

I was pushed to my knees along with Gazzy and Angel by the people who were holding us. I looked up to see five people walking onto the platform. One woman was walking with an air of pride and cockiness to her, one was dragging a beat up and bleeding girl, and one was being dragged. There were two people following them but they were dressed in black cloaks and I couldn't see their faces. Executioners maybe?

Cynthia Bronson stepped up and gestured toward the crowd and spoke into the microphone that was on the stage. The crowd automatically hushed, except for Max 3 who was struggling to hold Max, who was on the ground, bruised, her back bloody, and tear tracks down her face. She looked broken.

"Ladies, gentlemen, and experiments," she started. I sensed a long boring monologue ahead. "We are all here today for one reason, and for one reason only. To finally witness the execution of the no longer indestructible Maximum Ride."

Angel had tears running down her face, and so did Gazzy, but my face stayed blank, while my mind raced, trying to figure out a way for us to get out of this.

The crowd clapped politely, as if they were watching an opera, and not witnessing an execution.

"There will be no foreplay, since we have all waited a long time for this." She gestured to the two executioners, who instantly took Max from Max 3, and brought her over to the noose. She looked like she could barely hold herself up. The noose was brought around her neck, and the two executioners stepped away, the taller of the two put his hand on the lever that would activate the trapdoor that Max would fall through, breaking her neck.

"Any last words?" Cynthia Bronson asked Max.

She nodded, and Cynthia held the microphone up the Max's mouth.

"One, that was very cliché."

I heard a few people in the audience snicker.

"Two, I'm not going to say goodbye. Because goodbye means going away. And going away means forgetting. Just because I'm gone, doesn't mean you'll forget me, or all the damage that I've caused. There will always be chaos and defiance in a world without order, and this world will never have order. 9/11, Obama, the BP Oil Spill that is _still_ not stopping… In a world like this, there will always be people like you who want power. Which means there will always be people like the amazing Maximum Ride," She hesitated a split second, but I may have been the only one to have seen it. She gestured to herself as she said her name. "To fight against people like you."

Cynthia took the microphone away from Max and stepped away from her. She nodded to the executioner.

I turned my head away.

…

...

Any second now…

…

…

Any time soon...

…

…

I looked up to the platform to see Max and Cynthia looking at the executioner in annoyance.

"Can you just hurry up and get it over with? The suspense will kill me before you do." Said Max, glaring at the executioner.

"What's wrong?" asked Cynthia, ignoring Max.

The executioner said something I couldn't hear and Cynthia glared at him. She sighed. "If you want something done right, do it yourself." Faster than lightning, she grabbed the gun of one of the New Threat guards that were standing near the stairs leading up to the platform and she fired.

Once.

Twice.

A third and fourth shot were fired in the still air.

Max choked, and coughed. Blood dribbled down her chin, and the executioner reached out and loosened the noose. Max fell to the floor. Her breathing was heavy and I could hear it from my spot on the ground. She was lying on her back, and I could see the blood forming in a flower pattern from all four bullets that had found their mark.

Max's chest moved in and out, and I could see it moving slower and slower with each breath she took. My body wanted to move. My mind and my heart screamed at me to get the hell up and run over there to her, but I couldn't. I was frozen. And the four people who were holding me didn't help much either.

Max's face fell to the side, and I could see her eyes. Once clear and scheming, now foggy and fading. I locked my eyes onto hers and it looked like she struggled to do the same. Finally, her eyes seemed to spot mine, and she nodded slightly. A silent conversation went through us. _It's time. _She told me. No words were spoken. It was just something that the two of us both knew.

She closed her eyes.

And took one last shuddered breath.

No one in the stadium moved.

No one dared to.

At that second, no tears were cried from the flock.

No smiles formed on any faces of any of our enemies.

There was only shock and wide eyes.

For the great and once indestructible, indescribable Maximum Ride was dead.


	51. Chapter 49

**Hola Peoples!**

**Taylor: Taylor here!**

**Me: With me. Taylor's sleeping over and I let her do the A/N with me because we have nothing better to do.**

**Taylor: :D**

**Me: And she's drinking root beer, which is making her very hyper.**

**Taylor: :DDDDDDDDDDDD**

**Me: Anyway... In the last chapter, I forgot to add this in when Max said it, If you can guess where this quote is from, "I'm not going to say goddbye because goodbye means going away and going away means forgetting," I'll mention you in my next A/N! :)**

**I'm not going to do any shoutouts right now because apparently you guys have gotten some violent tendencies from the last chapter...**

**Taylor: Ya'll don't know what's going to happen when the story ends. So put your big boy/girl panties on and deal with it.**

**Me: Excuse taylor, when she has too many sodas she insults people.**

**Anyway, before Taylor insults anyone again or starts singing the song again, let's get on with the chapter.**

* * *

Chapter 49:

3rd Person POV:

10:00 am:

Silence.

That's all there was.

Nobody made any noise. No one moved, no one cried, and no one laughed. No one turned to talk to the person next to them. No one made a move to leave or get closer to get a good view. They were all too busy staring at the scene in front of them.

A voice came over the loudspeaker. "Maximum Ride died at 10:00 am on the day of August 23rd. Her last words were…" The mechanical female voice went on to repeat Max's last words, but it was tuned out by every single person in the stadium. All they could do was stare at Max's lifeless body.

It was hard for both sides to establish that the once great Maximum Ride was dead.

Her enemies felt relief but they felt somewhat empty. Lately, their life had been dedicated to the capture and destroying of Maximum Ride. Now that that once seemingly impossible task was finally fulfilled, what were they supposed to do?

Gazzy and Angel were heartbroken. They were crushed. Max was the only mother figure they ever had. She chased away the bad dreams at night, held them when they cried, bandaged them up when they were hurt… Without Max, what were they supposed to do?

Fang… Fang was blank. He refused to believe that it was Max. When he saw Max die, it felt like a piece of him died too. But Fang had known Max long enough to know that this wasn't the end. Max always had a plan, even when she didn't know she did. She wouldn't just give herself up like this. There was something he didn't know. Something he was missing, something he couldn't figure out.

Something very _very_ important.

And he was right.

* * *

? POV:

10:10 am:

It was silent for a long time. I wasn't really keeping track of the actual time. It seemed that during that time, though most wouldn't actually admit it, everyone was mourning for the girl who had just given her life up for the world.

I can't believe this happened.

I looked over to where three members of the flock were being held down; Fang, Gazzy, and Angel. They looked terrible, and in shock. They looked heartbroken and scared and angry.

I exchanged a glance with the taller of the two executioners and he bent down and picked up the body of the dead girl, taking her away.

"NO! DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH HER!" My head shot to where Fang was struggling against four guards. He had snapped out of his blank expression, and his eyes were frantic and bloodthirsty. His eyes were locked on Max. He looked ready to kill, which wasn't really a surprise. A life for a life right?

If only he knew the truth.

"YOU! THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT! IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU SHE WOULDN'T BE DEAD YOU BITCH!"

I mentally flinched at his tone, but I didn't let it show how much it hurt. I turned away from him, and gave the "executioners" a meaningful look. "Take her away."

They nodded, and picked her up, carrying her out the way we came in. I stole a glance at Fang and he watched her go. He fell to his knees with anguish, and looked down at his clenched hands.

I looked away from him, and walked after the two executioners. I walked past Cynthia Bronson who had a ghost of a smile on her face. She was breathing heavily, and her hands were shaking, the gun still in them. I locked eyes with her, and she cocked her head to the side, and a large grin formed on her face. "It's over." She whispered.

I nodded. _Psycho._

I gently reached for the gun that she was holding, but she snatched it away before I could reach it. I put on a look of confusion, and she asked me, "Do you remember what we talked about a few weeks ago?"

_Uh oh._

"We talked about a lot of things a few weeks ago."

"About how you need to prove your loyalty to Itex." She said.

I nodded, playing along. "What about it?"

She glanced over at the flock, and gestured at the guards that were holding Fang. "I think it's time for you to do just that."

"What do you mean?" I asked carefully as they dragged Fang up the stairs of the platform so he was now kneeling in front of us.  
"There is one bullet left in this gun. To prove your loyalty to Itex, shoot him." She gestured to Fang, and pressed the gun into my hands.  
I tried as hard as I could to not let my surprise show. Fang didn't move a muscle. He didn't look up, and didn't flinch at the fact that she wanted me to shoot him.

I turned away from her and faced him. "Where?" I whispered.

"Pull him up." She told the guards, then to me she said, "We still need him alive for tests so somewhere where he will still live. The leg maybe or an arm? Surprise me." _Oh, you sick sick bitch._

His guards were holding him up and he looked like he wanted to collapse from exhaustion. "Do your worst." He told me.

I pulled the trigger.

The bullet hit him in his left thigh. I have to give him credit though. He didn't cry out, or yell. He just dropped to the ground, clutching at his leg, his face scrunched up in pain, but if I had to guess, it wasn't just pain from the bullet.

I closed my eyes and dropped the gun.

Cynthia clapped me on the shoulder. "You did good."

I nodded and walked out of the stadium.

* * *

Fang POV:

11:15 am:

Max was dead.

Of course, you already knew that.

Did you know how much pain I was in?

I don't think you did, because I didn't even know that at the time.

I couldn't feel the pain in my leg from where that… that _thing_ shot me. And I certainly couldn't feel the pain that I should have instantly taken over me when I saw Max die.

After I was shot, I was taken back to my cell with a bawling Gazzy and Angel. We were thrown into the cell, and because I'm me, I had to be thrown onto my hurt leg. I leaned up against the wall, quickly tearing off what was left of my shirt and tying it to the gaping hole in my leg, and Gazzy and Angel gathered next to me, burying their heads into my chest, crying.

I closed my eyes and leaned my head against the wall.

And I, Fang, Mr. Rock, Mr. Dark and Silent, The Brick Wall, cried.

I cried for Dr. Martinez and Ella, because they wouldn't see their daughter again.

I cried for Gazzy and Angel, because they lost the only mother figure they ever had.

I cried for Iggy and Nudge because they didn't know, and I had no idea where they were.

I cried for Max.

And I cried for me, because I just lost the one and only love of my life.

Somewhere in that time, I drifted off to sleep with Gazzy and Angel next to me.

Only to be woken up by a shrieking alarm going off and being shaken awake by the person I LEAST expected to see.

* * *

**As you can see, I've been doing updates more often. This was mostly a filler chapter, but it's very important.**

**Review!**


	52. Chapter 50

**Hey peoples! Update time! Taylor was here earlier today, but I wasn't finished the chapter in time. :( Oh, well. Maybe next time.****This one is obviously longer than the last and Fang and Iggy have some guy to guy bonding at the end... I'm warning you, don't get your hopes up because the person waking Fang up isn't who you think it is.**

**Congrats to: Bubbley-chan, XxAvengingAngelxX, SeaSaltChocolate and whitewolf207 who guessed it correctly even though Bubbley-chan cheated. *grumbles***

**Bubbley-chan: Yes, I know that all you had to do was put it into google, but I was TRUSTING you not to do that. Anyway... thanks for reviewing! Your reviews always make me laugh when I read them. :)**

**Thank you to 3.1415927 who reviewed 11 times in a row. You made my day. :)**

**We're almost to 400 reviews, so keep reviewing!**

**Oh, and the Authors Note at the bottom is very important, so please read it!**

**Disclaimer: Some of the things Iggy says, I do not own, and I do not own Maximum Ride. Or Justin Bieber. I DO own the plot to this story, Dylan's flock, the New Threat, Cynthia Bronson, etc.**

**Enjoy and Review!**

* * *

Chapter 50:

Fang POV:

11:45 am:

You know that feeling you get when life can't, by any stretch of the imagination, get any stranger?

That's not true.

An alarm was going off somewhere in the building and I was shaken awake out of my not so peaceful slumber by MAX!

No, I'm just kidding, it wasn't Max. Max is dead, remember?

I was shaken awake by none other than my executioners.

This, my dear friends, is what we call a "WTF Moment."

"Fang, get your lazy ass up! We have to get out of here ASAP!"

Well, this was definitely unexpected.

At this point Angel and the Gasman were already fully awake, and staring at the two figures in front of me with wide and confused eyes.

Wide eyes because they were scared.

Confused eyes because… that voice sounded _scarily_ familiar.

"Come on, we have to go, now!" said the other one.

"Who the hell are you?" I demanded.

The two of them exchanged glances and pulled down the hoods of their cloaks.

It was Iggy and Nudge.

My jaw dropped. "Holy crap."

"Come on. We'll explain later. Right now, we need to get out of here." Iggy said, reaching over and helping me up, careful of my hurt leg.

"We're on the second floor and we have exactly five minutes to get to the first floor and out the door. After that, we have thirty seconds until the building explodes."

"What about Whitecoats? Or the New Threat?"

"We don't have to worry about them. That alarm that's going off," he said, making a hand gesture in the air to the alarm that was blaring, "signals that a bomb is about to blow the place up. My geniusness rigged it up like that, by the way. Everyone was still probably in the stadium that whole time, but whoever was in here would have gotten out by now."

"So the building's completely deserted?"

"It would appear so."

Strange, but I wasn't about to jinx it by questioning it.

We hobbled through the halls as fast as we could with my hurt leg, Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge following close behind.

"Iggy, a minute left until we reach the thirty second mark." Nudge said warningly.

"I know. We're almost there." He said through clenched teeth.

"Gazzy, Angel, and I won't be able to fly for long after this." I told him.

"I know. I've arranged for someone to drop us off at a makeshift campsite a few miles away. We can stay there the night because we don't have money for a hotel and it's not like we can stand all of us in a car all the way back to Seattle…" he said, knowing what I was thinking.

"Who's dropping us off?"

He was quiet, and I narrowed my eyes.

"Iggy, if it's who I think it is –"

"You'll see." He said.

"Does he know?"

His eyes met mine and he shook his head. "No, Nudge and I found out about her at the same time you did. We'll talk about it later."

Nudge ran in front of us and opened up the door.

"How long?" Iggy asked Nudge.

"Less than a minute left." Iggy nodded, a determined look on his face as we hobbled over to the SUV that was parked in front of the building. We all climbed in and I rolled my eyes when I saw who was driving.

Jeb.

This day is just full of those "WTF Moments."

As he quickly sped off, Nudge, Angel, and Gazzy slamming into each other in the process, he said "Okay, now tell me what's -" He looked in the rearview mirror. "Where's Max?"

Iggy and I exchanged glances, while Nudge closed her eyes, Angel buried her head in her brothers shoulder and Gazzy looked down at his hands. I could see tears slipping out of all of their eyes, but they all refused to let them show.

"We'll talk later." I told him, and in that instant, he understood. His shoulders slumped and he turned and focused on the road, speeding up as he did so.

That was when the building blew up.

It seemed like it was in slow motion. We were so far away that it was no more than a spec in the distance, but compared to everything else, it seemed so close.

I winced, watching the debris fall down.

"Dude, you okay? How's your leg?" Iggy asked me quietly.

"I'm fine." I said, bluntly.

I knew he didn't know how it felt, but I knew that Iggy somewhat understood. Watching that building blow up was like admitting that she was gone. Admitting that I was never going to see her again.

Way to be emo Fang.

I squeezed my eyes shut and settled myself back for a long car ride that I knew was coming.

* * *

Iggy POV:

9:32 pm:

I stared into the fire blankly, listening to the forced conversation of Angel, Gazzy, and Nudge, thinking about how fast the time seemed to have flown today. No pun intended.

Jeb had dropped us off at our makeshift campsite and drove off, claiming he had some unfinished business to attend to. I've learned not to question him and his split personalities.

"So how did you guys get a hold of the two executioners cloaks and everything?" Fang asked quietly from across the fire, breaking the silence.

I glanced up at him to see he wasn't looking at me, but at the fire. I automatically moved my gaze over the trees surrounding our camping area, and the quietly huddled up flock. "Jeb found us. How he found us, I don't know, and in some ways I don't want to know.

"He told us he knew where you were, so after a while he convinced us to go with him. He brought us to where you guys were being kept and Nudge and I snuck in. The next part was a little more difficult. We had absolutely no idea what was going on, so we saw these two guys, who turned out to be machines, got rid of them, and stuffed them somewhere."

Fang raised an eyebrow at me in amusement, but I ignored him and continued.

"We put on the cloaks, one thing led to another and we were being led down to the cells to Max. You know what happened after that."

Fang expression was blank, as if he hadn't heard me. He stared at the fire, unmoving. I glanced at the other three flock members who were now sleeping; Angel with her head in her brothers lap, and Gazzy leaning on Nudge's shoulder.

"I did my best to stop the machine. I put something in between a bunch of the levers that made that trapdoor open. That's why it didn't work. But obviously, it only prolonged the inevitable. I didn't expect her to just grab a gun and shoot her like that."

"Neither did I."

We were both quiet for a while.

"Max 3 told us to take her out of the stadium, and I picked her up. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do." I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to shut out the memory. "Some whitecoats took her away and I didn't see her after that. Nudge and I found out where the three of you were being held, and you know what happened after that."

Fang nodded, and I said, "So you never told me how you didn't get blown up."

He chuckled softly and told me about how he found the experiments and fed Angel false images so she wouldn't stop him. And how when the building blew up he didn't remember anything else.

"Don't you think it's weird?" I asked. "How everyone in the flock seems to be "dead" but then somehow they randomly come back?"

"You've noticed that too?" he asked me. "I keep expecting her to walk out of the trees, take charge, and say, "Come on guys, we've got a planet to save." Or something like that."

"Just for her to come back and pick up the pieces like she always does, right?"

"Exactly."

We were quiet again.

"How's your leg?" I asked him.

"It's fine." He said bluntly.

After a few seconds, I stood up. "It's been a rough day. I think I'm going to go get some sleep. You think you're up for first watch?"

"Yeah, but can I ask you something first?" Fang asked me.

"You just did." I pointed out.

"That's not what I meant." He said, shaking his head.

I waved my hand in the air, as if to say "Continue."

"After everything that's happened, what do you wish for? Do you wish you could change anything? I mean, I know when you were blind you wished for your sight, but now that you can see…" his voice trailed off.

"Besides wishing for _her_, you mean."

He nodded.

I sat back down, gazing into the fire, and thought about my answer for a while before I answered him.

What did I wish for?

"I'm not really sure Fang. But you know what would be nice? A perfect world. You know what? That's my wish; a perfect world. A world where love ruled over power, everyone would try to take the time to show some kindness, and no one would know what it feels like to be alone. A world where there weren't wars, no one would have to hurt, no tears would be cried, and all of us could forgive. And the best part is that everyone would see the only thing that is truly worth fighting for."

He looked at me in confusion. "Which is?"

"The thing that I feel about Ella. Or how you feel about Max. How the flock feels about each other, or how Gazzy feels about his sister, or about how Nudge feels about Justin Bieber." I told him. "Love is the only thing that is truly worth fighting for, Fang. And if everyone believed that… Just imagine where we'd be right now. Maybe it's too much to ask of people. Especially of today's world. Money, power, drugs… They're too wrapped up in their own lives to care about what happens to everyone else; to their friends, neighbors, family members…. They don't care as long as it doesn't happen to them. But if people thought of other people before themselves, and put love first…" I shrugged. "Well, who knows what could happen?"

"Wow."

"Yeah, I can be deep."

I stood up again, heading over to where the other three flock members were curled up. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to try to get some shut eye. Wake me up when it's my watch."

I paused halfway to the flock, glancing back. "Hey, Fang?"

"Yeah?"

"What do you wish for?"

He was quiet and didn't answer me for a few seconds, and I didn't hear a sound. The woods were dead quiet. No leaves rustling or crickets chirping; it was as if the whole forest was waiting for Fang's answer.

"A miracle."

The forest came to life again with sounds seemingly more vibrant than before, and I nodded. "You and me both, Fang. You and me both."

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**You know what I realized guys? This story only has a few more chapter until it comes to an end. Maybe one or two, three at the most. It depends. I want to know though: Do you want a sequel? Depending on your answer the story can go in two completely different ways. I haven't absolutely decided whether or not I'm gonna write one or not yet, but, we'll see. It all depends on what I decide, and what you decide. **

**This part is for maximumFANGirl, so if you're not her, you don't have to read this part: PM me! I need your opinion on something for the story, and I need to know what you think about it. :)**


	53. Chapter 51

**Woohoo! Last chapter! Oh, Taylor says hi, but she couldn't be here. :( But I'm talking to my friend Justin and he offered to do the author's note with me! But I'd much rather Taylor...**

**Justin: Hey! So rude... You know what else is rude? Waking ME up from a good nights sleep because you were bored.**

**Me: Oh, shut up. You know you'd rather talk to me than sleep. Anyway... Yes, this is the last chapter... So sad... But you voted for a sequel so there will be a sequel! Yay! Thanks to maximumFANGirl who helped me decide what to do for me story. :) And thank you to all my reviewers, and every single one of you who have kept with me through this story from the very beginning. You guys are just awesome.**

**Justin: Gettin' kinda deep there. Did that when you and your cousin went see Toy Story 3 too.**

**Me: *sigh* Way to ruin the moment Justin, way to ruin the moment. ****Anyway, please don't kill me for the giant cliffie. I don't know when the sequel will be posted it. I'm trying to figure out how to word it correctly. Just add me to Author Alert if you want to know when I add the sequel. Here's the disclaimer: You know everything I own, and you know everything I don't own, and the thing at the beginning of the chapter is owned by Simple Plan.**

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Chapter 51:

_Sometimes I wish I could save you_

_And there's so many things that I want you to know._

_I won't give up till it's over._

_If it takes you forever, I want you to know,_

_That if you fall, stumble down_

_I'll pick you up off the ground._

_If you lose faith in you, _

_I'll give you strength to pull through,_

_Tell me you won't give up, cause I'll be waiting if you fall,_

_You know I'll be there for you._

_If only I could find the answer_

_To take it all away._

Fang POV:

1:24 am:

There are a million thoughts running through my head right now that are seemingly impossible to sort out. What are we supposed to do now? Go back to Dr. Martinez? How are we supposed to tell her about Max? How are we supposed to tell Ella? Do we continue with Max's mission to save the world? Am I supposed to take over the flock now that Max is gone since I was her second in command?

I clenched my teeth and ran my hands angrily through my hair. We were going to have to think of something sooner or later. We couldn't just sit here and do nothing.

I hobbled over to where Iggy was and tapped the back of his hand twice. "Your turn for watch. I need some sleep." He nodded without another word and stood, taking my place by the fire. I leaned against the nearest tree and tried my best to fall asleep, a near impossible task.

It had been a long day. "A long day," being the biggest understatement of the century.

We had all lost something today. Or if you want to be technical, yesterday, since it was around one in the morning.

I looked to Iggy whose eyes were closed, head turned in the direction of the fire. I'm sure if he would have been given the chance, he would have given up his sight again to give Max back. Have you ever imagined what it would be like if you didn't have your sight? Close your eyes for a while and walk around blind. See how many things you hit. It's not fun. And the funny thing was, even without his sight, Iggy sometimes saw more than most of us.

I glanced over to the sleeping trio on the ground. You could barely recognize Nudge with her mouth shut. I don't know how she'll take to living without Max, but she'll have to get used to it sooner or later. I flinched at how harsh that sounded, but realized that I would have to live with it.

I turned my gaze to Angel and Gazzy. Gazzy was sleeping peacefully, but there was a sort of darkness that haunted his face. He was having a bad dream apparently, his face scrunched up in confusion. Angel was curled up on the ground with her head in her brothers lap. Even though she was a little demon sometimes, and I still debated on changing her name to something more appropriate, I think Max's… _passing_ hit her harder than all of us.

Except harder than me of course.

I sighed as I realized that this would probably take a while to get used to.

Iggy hadn't insulted anyone recently.

Nudge hadn't gone into a long, boring, pointless monologue about something none of us care about.

The Gazman has yet to blow anything up.

And Angel hasn't controlled anyone in a while.

It would take a long time for everyone to get back to normal after this.

I shook my head, trying to get rid of all Max-related thoughts but failing. I let my head fall back against the bark of the tree, and slowly fell asleep as the pale morning sun came into view.

8:45 am:

"Fang, wake up." I heard Angel's voice say as she lightly shook me awake.

I slowly, with Angel's help apparently, became conscious, hoping that last night had been a dream, but when I saw the forest, and 5/6 of a flock, I knew otherwise.

"Come on, twinkletoes, rise and shine." Iggy said, sitting by the fire with Gazzy, the two of them digging through bags of what looked like McDonald's. "Gaz and I went and got a feast fit for a king for the five of us."

"What time is it?" Nudge asked after Angel forced her up. "This is way too early, can I please go back to sleep? Ooh, Iggy, when did you get food? McDonald's? Dumpster diving, right? We haven't done that in forever. Oh, well, pass me one of the biscuits please." Nudge said, stuffing her face. "Mmm, this is delicious. It tastes like it just came out of the oven." She continued, crumbs falling out of her mouth.

I gave a half smile at her as Angel helped me over to where the others were, digging in the bags of food.

"No! Gazzy don't touch that!"

**BOOM!**

Smoke filled the surrounding area around our camp.

"Is everyone alright?" I called out, coughing, automatically slipping into the leadership position.

"I'm okay." Said Angel.

"That was awesome!" Came Gazzy's voice.

"What _was_ that?" said Nudge.

"Gazzy! I told you not to touch that!" Iggy yelled.

"Come on! You know that was cool!" Gazzy defended.

"Iggy, what the hell was that?" I asked as the smoke cleared.

"A bomb. Well, it wasn't a real bomb, because it doesn't really destroy anything. It just releases a lot of smoke, but it's a bomb nonetheless."

I shook my head at the two of them, and looked over at the rest of the flock. They all had smiles on their faces, but they were forced, and they all looked tired and exhausted. They had been through a lot these past few days, and these next few weeks, _months,_ would be rough.

But as I looked over at them, I realized something.

Gazzy was still making his bombs.

Iggy was still insulting people.

Nudge was still rambling on about things that didn't matter.

Angel was still controlling people.

The flock was far from back to normal, but they were doing their best to act like they were.

This wasn't over. We still had a long way to go, and if we gave up now, we didn't stand a chance. None of us did. We couldn't do this alone. We needed each other, and the friends we've come to know over the past few months.

Sooner or later, this was going to end, and we were going to end up on top.

And Max's death would _not _be in vain.

? POV:

Pain.

Searing.

Horrible.

Excruciating pain.

I didn't know where I was.

I didn't know what time it was or what day it was.

At that point I didn't know anything.

I wasn't even really sure what my name was.

All I was aware of was the terrible, agonizing pain that was searing through my head.

I scraped my fingers against my skull as if tearing into it, wanting the pain to stop, and I felt a wetness seep across my head.

I whimpered, and felt tears of pain flow out of my eyes as the pain seemed to get worse.

"Make it stop." I whispered to no one in particular. "Please stop."

If anyone would have seen me, I would have been a heart-wrenching scene to behold. Dirty, bloody, and sobbing on the ground clutching my head, feeling like I was falling apart.

My whole body shook as the pain sliced through me, and I saw black spots fly across my vision. I could only pray that I would pass out so the pain would stop.

_You failed. _I heard a voice in my head tell me. _You failed again._

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please make the pain stop." I cried, whimpering, feeling completely vulnerable, wanting whoever was doing this to end it soon.

"They will soon meet their own end." Said the mysterious voice. "But for now, they don't matter."

I felt a sharp burst of pain shoot straight through my skull and I cried out, clutching my head and curling into a ball, feeling more tears slip through my eyes.

"After months of waiting and seemingly endless patience and careful planning, I finally,_ finally _have total control over you."

"Please. Stop." I whispered weakly.

"You still don't get it do you? All of this, everything that has happened, has led up to this moment. This single moment. Everything has been a test, a _game_ if you will."

"Please." I tried again.

"Sweet dreams."

I screamed.

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**Please don't kill me! (And for Night owl-Day goddess that means keep those freakin weasels away from me. :)) The reason I did this was because it leaves a lot of things open for the SEQUEL! I'm so sorry! I'll post the sequel as soon as I can. :) Thank you again to everyone who stuck with me through the whole story.**

**Now that the story's finished, I have a question: What did you think of this chapter AND what did you think of the story as a whole?**

**Review and keep a lookout for the sequel! :)**


	54. Sequel!

**For those of you who don't already know, the sequel is finally up! It's called The Apocalypse. Please read, and review it!**

**Thanks to everyone who has added this story on their favorite/alerts, or me on favorites or alerts, and to everyone who's reviewed! You guys are awesome!**

**- flyaway111**


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